346 NOETH AMEBICAN FAUNA [No. 55 



General characters. Larger than the right whale porpoise ; form slender ; 

 snout contracted and beaklike; teeth in type 48 above, 46 below; dorsal fin in 

 middle of back. Color mainly black, a little lighter below. 



Measurements. Skull: Total length, 21 inches; rostrum, 11% inches. 



Distribution. Range given as North Pacific Ocean, but there seems 

 to be no definite record north of Monterey, and its inclusion in the 

 Oregon list is merely tentative. 



GLOBICEPHALUS SCAMMONII COPE 

 SOAMMON'S BLACOKFTSH ; DOLPHIN 



Globicephalus scammonii Cope, Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. Proc., p. 21, 1869. 



Type. Collected off coast of Baja California, lat. 31, 10 miles from land, by 

 C. M. Scammon, cataloged October 25, 1869. 



General characters. These large sea-going dolphins reach a length of 15 feet, 

 have large rounded heads with oblique mouth (pi. 49, C), overhanging muzzle, 

 and long low dorsal fin just back of head ; teeth 8 to 10 in each side of lower 

 and 10 to 12 in each side of upper jaw, rather large and mainly in posterior part 

 of jaws. Color black all over. 



Measurements. A large male : Total length, 15 feet, 6 inches ; nose to dorsal 

 fin, 4y 2 feet ; dorsal fin 28 by 12 inches ; length of pectorals 2 feet, 10 inches ; 

 width of tail flukes 3 feet, 6 inches (Scammon 1814, p. 86). 



Distribution. Scammon says they are found where the sperm 

 whales resort but in many instances range in large numbers nearer 

 the coasts. Their favorite resorts are along the Pacific coasts of 

 North America and South America off Guatemala, Ecuador, and 

 Peru, yet their geographical distribution is occasionally extended to 

 high northern and southern latitudes. True gives their range as the 

 North Pacific Ocean. Osgood (1901, p. 25) reports them in the 

 Queen Charlotte Islands and Dall (1869^ p. 333) in Bering Sea, 



General habits. The blackfish collect in schools of 10 or 20 up to 

 hundreds, and when going along the surface of the sea do not rise 

 and fall so much as the porpoise, and the time and number of spout- 

 ings are more irregular. In fact their habits are more like those of 

 the sperm whale, with which they are more or less associated. 



Breeding habits. Breeding habits of the blackfish are little 

 known, but Scammon says the young are apparently brought forth 

 at any time in any part of the ocean. 



Food habits. The food of this species is said to consist almost en- 

 tirely of squid or octopus, but in the bays and shallow waters it also 

 feeds on small fish. The animals have little commercial value for 

 oil and are not often hunted by the whalers except as a supply of 

 fresh meat, which is said to be like beef in texture and flavor. 



LISSODELPHIS BOREALIS (PEALE) 

 NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE PORPOISE 



Delphinapterus borealis Peale, U. S. Exploring Exped., v. 8, Mamm. and Ornith., 

 p. 35, 1848. 



Type locality. North Pacific Ocean, Lat. 466'50" N., Long. 1345' W. (west 

 of the mouth of the Columbia River). 



General characters. No dorsal fin; size small, length given as 4 feet, form 

 slender (pi. 49, F) ; " snout slightly produced ; color black with a white lanceo- 

 late spot on breast, which is extended in a narrow line to the tail " (Peale, 

 1848, P- 35). 



Measurements. Total length of type, 4 feet. Model in United States Na- 

 tional Museum of specimen from Japan about 8 feet. 



