708 MONACHUS? TKOPICALIS WEST INDIAN SEAL. 



nearly equivalent to the subfamily Stenorhynchinw of Gray and 

 other recent writers. Gill, in 1866, transferred it to the Plio- 

 cince. Its introduction into the North American fauna rests on 

 the provisional assignment of the Seal of the West Indian 

 waters to this genus. 



MONACHUS? TROPIC ALIS, Gray. 

 West Indian Seal. 



Seal. DAMPIER, Voy. round the World, ii, 2, 3d eel., 1705, 23. 

 Cystoplwra antillarum, GRAY, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1849, 93 (in part only). 

 Phoca tropicalis, GEAY, Cat. Seals Brit. Mus., 1850, 28. 



Monachus tropicalis, GRAY, Cat. Seals and Whales, 1866, 20 ; Hand List of 

 Seals, 1874, 11. 



wilkianus, GOSSE, Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica, 1851, 307. 



Pedro Seal, GOSSE, 1. c. ; Jamaica Seal, GRAY, 1. c. 



CHARACTERS.* Incisors |f|; canines ^; molars j|, five- 

 lobed, conical, rugose at base. Soles and palms naked. Ante- 

 rior digits with well-developed nails ; posterior digits with the 

 nails rudimentary. Mystacial bristles long, flexible, smooth. 

 Color intense uniform black, or black varied with gray. Pelage 

 very short, stiff, closely appressecl. Length of adult male, 

 about ten feet. 



Although the existence of Seals in the West Indian waters 

 has been known for two centuries, a most tantalizing uncer- 

 tainty still prevails in respect to their characters and affinities. 

 I had hoped to be able in the present connection to clear up 

 some of these doubts, but as my efforts to obtain specimens 

 have thus far proved fruitless, I have to content myself with 

 giving a transcript of what has already been written about 

 them, with such critical remarks as the case suggests. 



So far as known to me, Dampier was the first to record the 

 existence of Seals in the Caribbean Sea, but he gives no de- 

 scription of them, his reference consisting of an account of a 

 sealing voyage made to the Alacrane Eeef in 1675, and inci- 

 dents relating thereto. His account, however, shows that at 

 that time they were so abundant at that locality as to be sought 

 there for their oil, and where, in fact, for some years previously, 

 the sealing business had been an industry of considerable com- 

 mercial importance. 



DAMPIER'S ACCOUNT, 1675. In describing the "Alacrane" 



* Compiled from Hill and Gosse. 



