513 



GRAMPUS. 



Delphinus Orca. D. rostro sursum repando, dentihus latis ser-* 

 ratis *. Lin, S^/st. Nat. p. io8. Jrted. Gen. 76. Syn, 106, 



Delphinus corpore crasso, dorso pinnato, rostro sursum repando, 

 dentibus obtusis. Fahr. Faun. Groenl. p. 49. 



Dolphin with thick body, snout spreading upwards, and obtuse 

 teeth. 



Butskopf. Mart. Spifzb. p. 93. Cranz. Groenl. p. 151, 



The Ore or Grampus is by far the largest ani- 

 mal of this genus, arriving at the length of twenty* 

 five feet, and is of an extremely fierce and preda- 

 cious disposition, feeding on the larger fishes, and 

 even on the Dolphin and Porpesse. It is also said 

 to attack other Whales, and to devour Seals, which 

 it occasionally finds sleeping on the rocks, dis- 

 lodging them by means of its back fin, and preci- 

 pitating them into the water. In its general form 

 and colour it resembles the rest of this genus ; but 

 the lower jaw is much wider than the upper, and 

 the body somewhat broader and deeper in propor- 

 tion : the back-fin sometimes measures not less 

 than six feet in length from the base to the tip. 

 The Grampus is found in the Mediterranean and 

 Atlantic seas, as well as in both the polar regions* 

 It is emphatically styled by Fabricius Balcenaru?n 

 TyrannuSj and is considered as one of the most 

 ferocious inhabitants of the ocean. 



* This appears to be an txvor, none of the Whales having fer- 

 rated teeth. 



