154 



DR. SIDNEY F. HARMER ON CETACEA 



large teeth, which may reach a length of 40 mm. (Collett, 1906, 

 p. 11), at the extreme front end of the lower jaw. According to 

 most authorities these teeth remain concealed throughout life in 

 females, but they pierce the gum in the oldest males, and are then 

 commonly provided with a tuft of the Stalked Barnacle, 

 Conchoderma auritum. Vestigial teeth, in addition to these, 

 have frequently been described in both jaws (figured by Turner, 

 1912, p. 82) ; and traces of them have been found in one or two 

 of the individuals here recorded. The male in this species reaches 

 a length of at least 30 feet, while the female is said not to grow 

 much beyond 24 or 25 feet (Munsterhjelm, 1915, p. 9). Collett 

 (1906) states that the Bottle-nosed Whale is believed to be able to 

 remain under water at least two hours, and that, although it feeds 

 principal^ on Cephalopods, it also eats Herring or Cod, or even 

 pelagic Crustacea. Newly-born young have been observed in 

 June, while other females possess a small foetus at this season. 



(6) Cuvier's Whale (Ziphius cavirostris Cuv.) *. 



Before these records were instituted, this species was known 

 as British on the evidence of a single skull, obtained by Sir 

 William Turner from the Shetland Islands. One of the most 

 interesting results of the system inaugurated by the British 

 Museum has been the demonstration that Cuvier's Whale is 

 not the extreme rarity it had been supposed to be. Three 

 individuals have been definitely determined, from Cork (Feb., 

 1913), North Cornwall (June, 1916), and Wexford (July, 1915). 

 It is by no means unlikely that some of the older records of 

 " Bottle-nosed Whales " may have belonged to this species. 

 Two of these specimens have already been recorded by me in a 

 communication to this Society (Harmer, 1915, p. 559). 



True (1910, p. 54) has given reasons for believing that the 

 adults of the two sexes of this species are distinguished by marked 

 differences in cranial characters and in the teeth. In adult males, 

 according to this authority, the mesirostral ossification is enor- 

 mou'sly developed and there is a deep " prenarial basin " in the 

 skull. The teeth, of which one pair are present at the front end 

 of the lower jaw, as in Hyjyeroodon, are fusiform and reach a 

 diameter of 25 to 30 mm. In adult females, the mesirostral 

 ossification is only slightly developed and a prenarial basin is not 

 formed. The teeth are slender, with a diameter of 10 to 14 mm. 



Although the skulls of the specimens here recorded are not yet 

 all available for study, they appear to confirm True's statements. 

 The largest individual (Co. Cork) measured 26 feet in length, 



* [In my Annual Report for 1917, specimen No. 7, recorded on June 9 from 

 Co. Clare, was described as a Zipliius. The examination of its skeleton, which has 

 just been cleaned, proves that it belongs to a species of Mesoplodon, having its two 

 teeth at the extreme anterior end of the lower jaw. It is proposed to publish 

 a further account of this highly interesting specimen in due course. — S. F. H., 

 July 16 ? 1918.] 



