176 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 66 



Maryland Beach, Worcester County. This is the only Maryland 

 record, although specimens have stranded at other localities to the 

 north and south of the State. 



Family PHYSETERIDAE (sperm whales) 

 SPERM WHALE 

 Physeter catodon Linnaeus 



{^Physeter] ca^<9c?07i Linnaeus, Syst. ^^'at., ed. 10, 1 : 76, 1758. 



Type locality. — Kairston, Orkney Islands, Scotland (by restriction, Thomas, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 157, 22 March 1911) . 



General distribution. — In western North Atlantic from Iceland and Davis 

 Straits, south to Gulf of Mexico, West Indies, Lesser Antilles, and coast of 

 Venezuela. 



Description. — This species is the largest of the toothed whales, males 

 sometimes reaching a length of 60 feet or more. Females are consid- 

 erably smaller, generally under 40 feet in length. In coloration this 

 whale is a uniform gray or dark bluish gray. The narrow lower jaw 

 contains 20 to 30 heavy teeth. Usually no teeth are visible in the upper 

 jaws. There is no dorsal fin. 



Maryland records. — Only one sperm whale is known to have 

 stranded on a Maryland beach. It came ashore at GreeA Kun Inlet 

 (now closed) just north of the Maryland- Virginia boundary on 

 Assateague Island in December 1891. This specimen is preserved as a 

 skeleton in the U.S. National Museum. 



At times, sperm whales are numerous off Ocean City. They attract 

 the attention of passing boats by their habit of raising their flukes clear 

 of the water when sounding. 



PIGMY SPERM WHALE 



Kogia breviceps (Blainville) 



Physeter hreviceps Blainville, Ann. d'Anat. et de Physiol., 2: 337, 

 1833. 



Type locality. — Region of Cape of Good Hope, Republic of South Africa. 



General distridution. — In western North Atlantic recorded from Halifax Har- 

 bor, Nova Sbotia, south to Jupiter Inlet, Florida. This is a pelagic species that is 

 seldom found stranded on beaches. 



Description. — A small edition of its larger relative the sperm whale, 

 the pigmy sperm whale ranges in length from 9 to 13 feet. In colora- 

 tion it is black above, whi.te beneath. There are usually 14 or 15 small 

 needlelike teeth in each lower jaw ; no teeth visible in upper jaws. This 

 species, unlike the large sperm whale, possesses a small dorsal fin. 



