560 DR- S- F. HARMER ON 



to our shores as has hitherto been supposed *. It seems not 

 improbable that a certain proportion of the Cetacea recorded 

 as " Bottle-nosed Whales " belong either to this species or 

 to the allied genus Mesoplodon^ of which two species appear 

 to occur in our seas, namely Sowerby's Whale {M. bidens) 

 and M. eioropceus Gervais, the validity of which has been the 

 subject of much dispute, but which, from the evidence recently 

 given by the late Mr. F. W. True (1910, p. 11), has considerable 

 claims to be regarded as distinct from M. bidens. 



The adult males of Ziphioid Whales usually possess one or two 

 pairs of large and conspicuous teeth, either at the extreme 

 anterior end of the lower jaw or further back in the same jaw ; 

 and in most of the species these teeth form a conspicuous feature 

 oi' the animal in the flesh. In young specimens of either sex 

 and even in adult females, the corresponding teeth do not cut 

 the gum, in most of the species ; and a living specimen thus 

 appears to be completely edentulous. While the adult male of 

 the Common Bottle-nosed Whale {Hyperoodon rostrattis) is 

 characterised by its remarkably swollen forehead, this feature 

 is absent from the females at all ages, as is shown in the figure 

 given by Capt. David Gray (1882, p. 728). When it is remem- 

 l)ered that the coloration of the skin is very variable, both in 

 Hyperoodon and in Ziphms, it will be realised that the external 

 differences between apparently edentulous specimens of these 

 two genera, are not so striking as to preclude mistakes in deter- 

 mination by observers who have not had considerable experience. 

 In order to obtain any certainty with i-egard to the determination 

 of Ziphioid Whales it is thus desirable to scrutinise most care- 

 fully the evidence relating to reputed " Bottle-nosed Whales."' 



The considerable number of records of the occurrence of 

 Zi'phius in the most widely separated localities, taken in conjunc- 

 tion with the evidence supplied by some of the best authorities 

 that but a single recent species has been proved to exist, leads to 

 the conclusion that Z. cavirostris is a cosmopolitan species which 

 inhabits the open oceans of the world and is occasionally stranded. 

 It does not follow that it is in reality a rare animal. If the 

 conclusion that but one living species occurs be cori'cct, the 

 species has an almost world-wide distribution, since it has been 

 I'ccorded not only on both sides of the Atlantic and in the 

 Mediterranean, but also in such Avidely separated localities as 

 South Africa, New Zealand, and Bering Sea. 



In 1912 the Board of Trade issued instructions to Receivers of 

 Wreck to inform .the British Museum of the stranding of Cetacea 



* It is not impossible that two living Whales which were observed from the cliff 

 at Great Saltee Island, Co. Wexford, June' 15, 1913, by Mr. W. P. Pyciaft, in 

 company with the late Mr. R. M. Barrington and Mr. W. W. Grant, may have 

 belonged to Z. cavirostris. Mr. Pjcraft has kindly given me a copy of the notes 

 which he made at the time, according to which all three observers were struck by 

 the remarkably white appearance of the fore part of the body, and were agreed that 

 this was not due to the ettect of brilliant sunshine reflected from a black surface. 

 The hinder part of the body was evidently darker than the front part. It will be 

 noticed' that this account is in complete agreement with the observations recorded 

 below on the coloration of the Wexford Ziphius stranded on July 19, 1915. 



