Balaena is considered a monotypic genus, as it has only a single extant species, the bowhead whale (B. mysticetus).

It was named in 1758 by Linnaeus, who at the time considered all of the right whales (and the bowhead) as a single species.

In the early whaling days, they were all thought to be a single species, Balaena mysticetus.

[2] As recently as 1998, Dale Rice, in his comprehensive and otherwise authoritative classification, Marine mammals of the world: systematics and distribution, listed just two species: Balaena glacialis (the right whales) and Balaena mysticetus (the bowheads).

[5] Balena, described by Scopoli in 1777, and Leiobalaena, described by Eschricht in 1849, are junior synonyms of Balaena.