440 delphiniDjE. 



CETACEA. DELPHINIDjE. 



(ODONTOCETI.) 



-Jl 



Genus Delphinapterus (Lacepede, 1804). 



Genei-ic Clmracter. — Head rounded, no beak ; no dorsal fin. Teeth in 

 front part of both jaws, sometimes deciduous, 



WHITE WHALE, OR BELUGA. 

 Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas). 



Specific Character. — Adult wholly white, young bluish-grey. Teeth |:| to 

 \^:\l Length of adult 10 to 16 feet. 



Delphimus leucas, Palias, Eeise, III., 92 (1776). 



,, albicans, Pabrioitis, Fauna Grrceul., 60 (1780). 



Delphinapterus ieluffa, Lao^pJidb, Hist. Nat. desCet., 243 (1804). 



Kelldnah 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 Mayan. It is common about 

 Spitzbergen, and was seen by Steller on the coast of 

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

 regular fishery being carried on in the spring and summer 

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

 said to be sometimes seen off the coast of Norwegian 

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



