DIAGNOSIS OF A NEW BEAKED WHALE OF THE GENUS 

 MESOPLODON FROM THE COAST OF NORTH CARO- 

 LINA 



By FREDERICK W. TRUE 



A beaked whale sixteen feet long stranded in the outer bank of 

 Bird Island Shoal in the harbor of Beaufort, North Carolina, on 

 July 26, 1912. The occurrence was reported to the Fisheries Labora- 

 tory at noon the same day. When examined, soon afterward, the 

 specimen had been badly mutilated, and in the end only the head, 

 tail, and one of the pectoral fins were preserved. These parts were 

 turned over to the U. S. National Museum by the Bureau of Fish- 

 eries, and, upon examination, showed that the animal belonged to 

 an undescribed species of Mesoplodon. In order to make it known 

 to science a diagnosis is here given. 



MESOPLODON MIRUM, new species 



Type specimen. — Cat. No. 175019, U. S. National Museum. A 

 skull with mandible, and partial skeleton of an adult female 16 feet 

 long, which stranded in Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina. July 

 26. 1912. Collected by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries Laboratory, 

 Dr. Lewis Radclift'e, director. 



Teeth at the extremity of the mandible, small, entirely concealed 

 by the integuments (in the adult female) ; mandibular symphysis one- 

 fourth the length of the mandible ; no basirostral groove. External 

 free border of the lachrymal bone one-half the length of the orbit ; 

 its anterior end curved upward and appearing on the superior surface 

 of the skull where it joins the antero-external angle of the frontal 

 plate of the maxilla ; maxillary prominences short and directed 

 obliquely outward anteriorly, the extremity close to the maxillary 

 notch. Maxillary foramina behind the premaxillary foramina ; 

 frontal plates of the maxillae approximately one-half as broad as long. 



The following measurements and data relative to coloration were 

 furnished by Dr. Radclift'e : 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 60, No. 25 



