402 



CETACEA. 

 {MYSTACOCETl.) 



BAL^NOPTERIDiE. 



BA LJBNOPTERIBjE. 



SIBBALD'S RORQUAL. 



Balcenoptera sibbaldii (J. E. Gray). 



Specific Character. — Black above, shading into slate-gi-ey below, more or 

 less varied with whitish spots and markings ; flippers black above, whitish 

 below ; baleen uniform deep black. Head broad ; flippers long and broad ; 

 dorsal-fin distinct, but very low. Vertebra 64 ; ribs 16 pairs, the first usually 

 single-headed. Length of adult 60 to 80 feet or more. 



Physalus sihhaldii, J. E. Gray, P.Z.S., 1847, 92. 



Balccna borealis, (In part) Fischer, Syn. 524 (1828). 



Sihhaldius borealis, Gray, P. Z. S., 1864, 223. 



Physalus latirostris, Flower, P. Z. S., 1864, 410. 



? ' ' Bakena tripinnis quce maxillam 



inferiorem rotundam," &c., Sibbald, Nov. Phalcen., 33 (1692). 

 Steypireythr of Icelanders. 



Sibbald's Rorqual, probably the largest of its family, 

 has long been distinguished as a separate species by the 

 Icelanders under the name of Steypireythr, but was first 

 zoologically characterized by Dr. Gray, who in 1847 

 named it sibbaldii in honour of the distinguished Scotch 

 cetologist of the seventeenth century. Since then very 

 considerable additions have been made to our knowledge 

 of its history and structure, chiefly by the labours of 

 Professors Reinhardt, Flower, and Turner. 



