440 



GET ACE A. 

 {ODONTOCETI.) 



DELPHINIDiE. 



DELPHINJDjE. 



Genus Delphinapterus (Lacepede, 1804). 



Generic Character. — Head rounded, no beak ; no dorsal fin. Teeth in 

 front part of both jaws, sometimes deciduous. 



WHITE WHALE, OR BELUGA. 



DelphinajJterus leucas (Pallas). 



Specific Character. — k^vXt wholly white, young bluish-grey. Teeth |:| to 

 ]^:\% Length of adult 10 to 16 feet. 



Delphinus leucas, Pallas, Keise, III., 92 (1776). 



,, albicans, Fabricius, Fauna Grcenl., 50 (1780). 



Delx>hinapterus beluga, Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Cet., 243 (1804). 



Kellelnah of Greenlanders. Beluga of Russians. 



The White Whale or Beluga is a native of the Arctic 

 regions, and can only be regarded as an accidental visitor 

 to the coasts of western Europe. It is abundant in 

 Hudson's Bay, Davis Straits, and the Arctic Ocean 

 generally, but Mr. Scoresby never saw it further south 

 than the island of Jan Mayen. It is common about 

 Spitzbergen, and was seen by S teller on the coast of 

 Kamschatka. In the White Sea it is very plentiful, a 

 regular fishery being carried on in the vspringand summer 

 at Solza, near the mouths of the River Dvina, and it is 

 said to be sometimes seen oiF the coast of Norwegian 

 Finmark. It seems to be partial to large rivers ; in 



