1. GLOBIOOBPIIAIUS. 321 



Blackfish (Phocffina nigi'a), Clarke in Nunn, Narrat. of Wreck of 

 Favourite, 184, fig. (1850, 8vo) ? j j 



Blackfish, Colnett, fay. 8. Pacific ? 



lahab. South. Seas. 



a. Skull, imperfect. Presented by Dr. Milligan. 



Skull, Mus. Coll. Surg. Presented by J. Bennett, Esq. Called a 

 " KUler or Blackfish" :— 



in. lin. 



Length, entire 24 



Length of nose 11 6 



Length from tip of nose to back of palate. ... 14 6 



Length.of teeth-line 5 6 



Length of lower jaw 16 6 



Breadth at preorbital notch 9 6 



Breadth at middle of nose 9 



Breadth at temple 17 



Breadth of intermaxillary 6 



Head thick, square, and short; the snout blunt and but little 

 prominent. The angles of the lips are curved upwards, giving the 

 physiognomy an innocent smOing expression. Body clumsy, round 

 and broad, and the termination of the trunk in the taU-fin rather 

 abrupt. — Bennett, I. c. 233. 



Colnett (Voy. 8. Pacific) speaks of innumerable shoals of Blackfish 

 on the shores of California. 



The contents of the stomach were chiefly cuttlefish. 



The Blackfish roam about the ocean in very large troops (a soli- 

 tary individual is occasionally seen), are active and watchful, but 

 betray little concern at ships or boats. They appear to inhabit the 

 greater portion of the aqueous globe, uninfluenced by the remoteness 

 or vicinity of land. We observed examples in many parallels of 

 latitude between the equator and 60° N. and 53° S., in the central 

 part of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as off the coast of 

 California and in the Indian Archipelago. 



Sperm-whalers often attack this species with their boats in order 

 to obtain a supply of oil for ship consumption ; some risk, however, 

 attends their capture, for when harpooned they will sometimes leap 

 into a boat. A Blackfish of average size wiU produce from 30 to 35 

 gallons of oil, which in its most recent state has a dark colour and 

 an unpleasant odour. — Bennett, 235. 



It is probable that Mr. Bennett in the above range confounded 

 together under the name of Blackfish more than one species. There 

 can be no doubt of this being the case, as Mr. Plower has received 

 skulls of two genera, viz. Pseudorca meridionalis and two species of 

 GflobiocepTialus, sent as the " Blackfish " from a whaler in Australia. 



I am not sure that the skull described is that of the animal called 

 the "Blackfish;" at least, if it is, there must be more than one 

 genus of whales so called. 



There is a skuU of this species in the Museum of the Eoyal CoUege 

 of Surgeons, called the skull of the Round-headed Grampus (Del- 



T 



