CATALOG OF LIVING WHALES 127 



La Jolla, California, in the north and the coast of Chile in the south ; in 

 the western Pacific: from the Bering Sea to Japan and from Australia to 

 New Zealand ; in the Indian Ocean. 



Remarks : As shown in the generic synonymy, the names Nodus Wagler, 

 Micropteron Eschricht, and Dioplodon Gervais take priority, in the order 

 given, over Mesoplodon Gervais. The first, Nodus, has had no currency as 

 a senior synonym of Mesoplodon. It has, instead, been cited incorrectly as a 

 junior synonym of Hyperoodon Lacepede (cf. Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 

 1951; Hall and Kelson, 1959). The second, Micropteron, has been used 

 rarely in the primary literature and never during this century. Both 

 Nodus and Micropteron would be regarded as nomina oblita by adherents 

 to Article 23(b) of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. 

 Dioplodon was published simultaneously with Mesoplodon but generally has 

 been cited from a later publication. Although Dioplodon has line priority 

 over Mesoplodon, it may be treated as a junior synonym of it in accordance 

 with Article 24(a), (i) of the International Code. 



Mesoplodon bidens Sowerby 



"Dauphin de Dale" Blainville (not Dale), 1825, Bull. Sci. Soc. Philom. 

 Paris, 4: 139 [N. Atlantic: France (Le Havre); stranded Sept. 9, 1825; 

 characters from fresh animal; skin and skeleton deposited in Paris 

 Museum]. — F. Cuvier, 1826, in E. Geoffroy and F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. 

 Mamm., 6, livr. 53 (February), pi. (animal) and text [characters]. 



"Dauphin du Havre" Blainville, 1826, Bull. Sci. Soc. Philom., Paris, 

 5: 193, pi. for August (animal, skull) [the "dauphin de Dale" now 

 regarded as specifically distinct from Dale's bottle-head]. 



Physeter bidens Sowerby, 1804a, Trans. Linnaean Soc. London, 7: 310; 

 1804b, The British Miscellany, p. 1, pi. 1 (animal) [characters]. 



Micropteron bidens, Malm, 1871, K. Svenska Vetenskaps Akad. Handl., 

 n. s., 9(1): 96 [N. Atlantic: Norway (Karingon); osteology]. 



M[esoplodon] bidens, Flower, 1878, Trans. Zool. Soc. London, 10: 415 

 [classification]. — Harmer, 1924, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1924: 541 

 [characters; comparisons]. 



Mesoplodon bidens, Fraser and Purves, 1960, Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), 

 Zool., 7: 16, 19, 39, 72, pis. 11, 12 (skull) [auditory system]. — Sergeant 

 and Fischer, 1957, Journ. Fish. Res. Board Canada, 14(1): 86, fig. 2 

 (skull), fig. 3a (head-dorsal surface appears ventral), fig. 3b (mandible) 

 [N. Atlantic: Canada (Chappell Arm, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland); 

 measurements]. 



Delphinus Sowerbensis Blainville, 1817, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., 9: 177 

 [new name for Physeter bidens Sowerby; characters]. 



Mesoplodon sowerbensis, Gervais, 1859, Zool. Pal. Frangaises, ed. 2, 2: 291, 

 pi. 40, fig. 1 (skull of the Le Havre specimen, type of Heterodon dalei 

 (Lesson) [characters; synonyms: Delphinus bidens Sowerby, Delphinus 



