Right whales or black whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genusEubalaena: the North Atlantic right whale (E. glacialis), the North Pacific right whale (E. japonica) and the Southern right whale (E. australis). They are classified in the family Balaenidae with the bowhead whale. Right whales have rotund bodies with arching rostrums, V-shaped blowholes and dark gray or black skin. The most distinguishing feature of a right whale are the rough patches of skin on its head which appear white due to parasitism by whale lice. Right whales can grow up to more than 18 m (59 ft) long with a highest-recorded length of 19.8 m (65 ft).^[9]They weigh 100 short tons (91 t; 89 long tons) or more 20.7 m (68 ft) with 135,000 kg (298,000 lb)^[10] or 21.3 m (70 ft) with uncertainty,^[11] significantly larger than other coastal species such as humpbacks, grays, or edens and omura's, but smaller than blues. One (apocryphal) explanation for their name is that whalers identified them as the "right" whale to kill on a hunt due to the plentiful oil and baleen they could provide.^[12]