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CHAPTER XIV : 



PORPOISES AND DOLPHINS 



(continued). 



The terms " porpoise " and " dolphin ". Common 

 Porpoise and other species. Finless Black Porpoise. Right 

 Whale Dolphins. Hector's Dolphin. Heaviside's Dolphin 

 and related species. White-sided Dolphin. White-beaked 

 Dolphin and related species. Bottle-nosed Dolphin. Common 

 Dolphin. Rough-toothed Dolphin. Genera Prodelphinus 

 and Sotalia. 



In this chapter we shall begin by describing the remaining 

 ' beakless " members of the family Delphinidae before going 

 on to those having the distinctly marked snout which the word 

 " dolphin " generally connotes. 



The question of the difference between " porpoise " and 

 " dolphin " must certainly have been asked hundreds of times, 

 and it is unfortunate that it is one which involves the diffi- 

 culties associated with the use of popular terms. The name 

 " dolphin " itself is used to describe a fish (Coryphcsna, see 

 p. 127) and a group of cetacean mammals, so that when the 

 word is employed it is necessary to ascertain first of all whether 

 fish or mammal is being discussed. Again, the term " common 

 porpoise " is loosely used, for although to people in this 

 country it applies to the beakless little cetacean Phoccena 

 phoccena so frequently seen around our coasts, in America the 

 name is used for what we call the Bottle-nosed Dolphin, and 

 in New Zealand for an animal which, though beakless, is in a 

 different genus altogether from Phoccena. 



