lis 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 66 



Type locality. — Totness, Devonshire, England. 



General distribution. — In the western North Atlantic recorded from Massa- 

 chusetts south to Florida. 



Description. — Adults of this species reach a length of 11 or 12 feet, 

 and may be recognized by the purplish lead-gray coloration of the 

 upper parts, the short beak, seldom more than 3 inches long, and the 

 lower jaw, which is slightly longer than the upper. There are 20 to 

 26 teeth on each side in both jaws of the mouth. 



Maryland records. — True (1890, p. 197) says that he has been 

 informed that this species ascends the Potomac River as far as Gly- 

 mont, a fishing station on the Maryland shore about 18 miles below 

 Washington, D.C. 



On 27 and 28 July 1884, a porpoise, presumed to be of this species, 

 was observed in the Potomac River above the Aqueduct Bridge in 

 Washington, D.C. It was chased by boats and shot at repeatedly, but 

 not captured. The species has been seen at various times near Alex- 

 andria (unsigned note in The Pastime, 3(2), p. 14, August 1884). 



In the Chesapeake Bay, Tursiops has been reported as far up as 

 'Havre de Grace, Harford County (Maryland Tidewater News, 8, 

 p. 40, 1952). 



Specimens in the National collections are from the following Mary- 

 land localities: Point Lookout, St. Mary's County; Queenstown 

 Creek, Queen Annes County ; and Scientist's Cliffs, Calvert County. 



In addition, bottle-nosed porpoises are often seen off Ocean City, 

 Worcester County, and swimming in the Ocean City Inlet into Sine- 

 puxent Bay. This is probably the most abundant marine mammal in 

 Maryland waters. 



Suborder MYSTICETI (baleen whales) 



Whales of this suborder do not possess teeth. Instead, they are 

 equipped with whalebone, or baleen, which hangs down in the mouth 

 from either side of the upper jaws in long strips, with hairlike bristles 

 on the inner edges. The apparatus thus formed serves as a strainer. 

 In feeding, the baleen whales swim open-mouthed through swarms of 

 plankton; then closing the mouth, they press the tongue against the 

 baleen plates, squeezing out the water and leaving the plankton inside 

 the mouth to be swallowed. 



Family BALAENOPTERIDAE (fin-backed whales) 



LITTLE PIKED WHALE 



Balaenoptera acutorostrata Laccpede 



Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacepede, Histoire naturelle des Cetaoee 

 . . . , p. 37, 1804. 



