The spade-toothed whale has a beak-like snout that projects forward. In its 2024 fact sheet, New Zealand's Department of Conservation lists 7 known records, 6 of them found in New Zealand.
An adult female stranded at Opape Beach, New Zealand, in December 2010 measured 5.3m. She had a prominent forehead bulge, a dark gray to black snout, a dark eye patch and dark pectoral flippers. Her belly was white.
On 4 July 2024, a male about 5 m long was reported stranded near Taiari Mouth on New Zealand’s South Island. DNA later confirmed its species. Dissection that December showed nine stomach chambers in this individual, with squid beaks and squid eye lenses in some chambers.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.