314 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [March, 



that this is the Delphinus tursio of Fabricius, as the Eskimo name 

 Nesarnak is applied to the present animal." Finally, to clinch the 

 matter, he states that Montagu's Delphinus truncatus {i.e., the bottle- 

 nosed porpoise) "has never been fomid in Davis Strait."'* 



I am unable to find reference to any Greenland specimens of Twsiops 

 in the museums of Europe and there are none in the U. S. National 

 Museum. 



The correct name for the bottlenosed porpoise is probably Tursiops 

 truncatus (Montagu), from the Delphinus truncatus described by 

 Montagu in 1821.^ The specific name truncatus has been employed 

 from time to time by various systematists, including J. E. Gray, but 

 Beddard and other recent compilers have generally made use of the 

 inapplicable tursio. 



There is a possibility that the Delphinus siculus of Rafinesque, 

 described in 1810, is the same as Tursiops truncatus, in wliich case 

 siculus would have priority, but Rafinesque's description is so insuffi- 

 cient that there will probably always be a difference of opinion as to 

 the identity of his species. Under the circumstances it seems unwise 

 to give it serious consideration. Rafinesque's description (translated) 

 is as follows: 

 "Delphinus siculus. 



"Body oblong, attenuated posteriorly, bluish above, white below; 

 rostrum short, obtuse; teeth equally obtuse. Remarks: This dolphin 

 is called ' Fera ' in Sicily, and has much affinity with Delphinus feres of 

 Bonnaterre, but that is black and has the teeth unequal, alternately 

 longer and shorter. Both differ from D. phocena and D. delphis, which 

 have the teeth acute, and the last the rostrum also."^ 



Later writers on the fauna of Sicily, so far as I have observed, do 

 not mention the "fera" among the species of porpoises, but Cams 

 states that the common porpoise, or dolphin, Delphinus delphis, is 

 known to the Sicilians as "fera comune," so that there is a probability 

 that Tursiops truncatus might be known as "fera." The Delphinus 

 feres of Bonnaterre is certainly not the same as Tursiops truncatus, 

 as the skeleton of one was 14 feet long, the skull 22^ inches long and 

 17 inches broad, the total number of teeth but 40, and the skin entirely 

 black. It was probably a species of Glohicephala. 



* Arctic Manual, 1875, pp. 91-92, from P. Z. S., 1868, with additions and cor- 

 rections. 



^ Montagu, Geo., "Description of a Species of Delphinus which appears to be 

 New," Mem. Wernerian Soc. Nat. Hist., 3, 1821, pp. 75-82, 1 PL 



® Rapinesque-Schmaltz, C. S., Caratteri eri di alcuni nuovi gen. et sp. anim. 

 et piant. delta Sicilia, 1810, p. 5. 



