KILLER, OR GRAMPUS. 



449 



broad stripe of purple runs along the base of the 

 dorsal-fin. 



The teeth are eleven or twelve on each side of either 

 javy, and are large, conical, and slightly recurved. They 

 are permanently retained, and the front ones are found 

 to be worn down much earlier than the others. 



The following are the dimensions of the male taken 

 in Lynn Harbour : — 



Three distinct species of Killer have been distinguished 

 by the Danish naturalists, namely, the present species 

 and two smaller ones, Orca schlegellii of Lilljeborg, and 

 0, eschrichtii of Steenstrup. The specific distinction of 

 these forms seems to require further confirmation, and 

 as they have not yet been met with in British waters, 

 we may refer such of our readers as may wish for further 

 particulars on the subject to the translation of " Recent 

 Memoirs on the Cetacea," published by the Ray Society. 

 Two other species are described by Dr. Gray in his 

 " Supplement to the Catalogue of Seals and Whales in 

 the British Museum " (1871) from British skulls, these 

 are O. stenorhyncha, in which the rostrum of the skull is 

 more attenuated than in O. gladiator, and O. latirostris, in 

 which it is comparatively broader. As nothing further 

 is yet known of these animals, they may be allowed to 

 wait for further confirmation of their specific dis- 

 tinctness. 



3 M 



