Hector. — On the Dolphins of the New Zealand Seas. 209 



2. Pseudorca crassidens, Owen ; Gray, 290. 

 (P. meridionalis, Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1864; Hector, Trans. N.Z. Inst., v., 163.) 

 Professor Flower states that further examination of a complete series of 

 adult skeletons has led him to abandon the specific distinction of the 

 southern from the northern form of this animal. No further specimen of this 

 rare animal has been obtained since my former notes were published. 

 3. Grampus richardsoni, Gray, 299. 

 Hector, Trans. N.Z. Inst., v., 163. 

 Nothing more has been ascertained as to the occurrence of this grampus 

 in the New Zealand seas. It is probably identical with Grampus griseus of 

 the northern seas, which Professor Flower states is remarkable for the 

 variability of its colour. 



4. Velphinapterus leucas, Pallas. 

 (Beluga kingii, Gray, 309 ; Hector, Trans. N.Z. Inst., v., 163.) 

 The inclusion of this animal in the New Zealand Fauna is still only 

 dependent on the single specimen of an imperfect skull. A skull of the 

 northern species, which I obtained for comparison, agrees so well that it is 

 better to sink the specific distinction until definite information is obtained. 

 5. Globiccphalus melas, Traill. 

 G. macrorhynchus, Gray ; Hector, Trans. N.Z. Inst., v., 164. 

 A number of skeletons of this very common animal known as the 

 blackfish have been sent by me in exchange to other museums, and 

 Professor Flower has satisfied himself that it cannot be separated from the 

 Caaing whale of the Northern Seas. Professor Flower considers that the 

 skull in the College of Surgeons Museum which forms the type G. macro- 

 rhynchus belongs to a different animal ; but the description quoted by Gray 

 of the South Sea blackfish and its habits under that specific name so 

 evidently apply to our common blackfish that I was misled in my former 

 determination. 



7. Cephalorhynchus hectori, Van Beneden. 



Lagenorhynchus clanculus, Gray. 



Electro clancula, Hector, Trans. N.Z. Inst., v., 160. 



The common dolphin of the coast which I at first identified as this 



species has given rise to a most embarrassing confusion of nomenclature 



from its evidently having been confounded with another dolphin almost 



equally common and of the same size, Clymenia obscura. Following the 



nomenclature of Gervais, and guided by the character of the pterygoid bones, 



Professor Flower refers it to the genus Cephalorhynchus, which with Gray 



was a sub-genus of Tursio, and considers it barely distinguishable from 



Gray's Tursio heavisidii of the Cape of Good Hope, which is, however, 



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