Translation 2783

..... 195
of the skull. .Che fatty cus.liion i,"foreiieaà" ) is also stroi^.^ly. developed.
'.thc lot;er jaw contains a sinr_,le pair of teeth, which are not
cove..red by the upl,er jaw. ;1.'he dorsal fin (the height of wnich is
from 5.4;• to 6.7;^, of t;^e body length)' is usually located in. front of
the rear half of the body. The head, back, sides, and flukes are
dark-grey or black, a.rld the ventral side is somewha:r1 lighter in colour.
Ther^ are light-grey and white spots, u-.., to 3 or il. em in clia.7:letor,
on the sides and belly. -xhis speeies 9.s of no economic importance.
Genus Mc.so;ilodon Gervais, 1650
This genus is the larc,;est in the family Gipiiiidae. It contains
up to 11 species, but some of these are very rare.
The whales in this gents attain a maximum longth of 6.7 metres,
but are not usually more than 6.0 metres lon,,I,.
The body is more massive than in other meaibers of tlie . f•amily;
its greatest girth is at some distance behind the flippers, and is
from one-half to two-thirds of the body lenûth. Tlie long beak passes
into the gently-sloping forehead, behind t.rhich lies tue blow-hple,
wizich is very slightly convex. The head is somewhat comp1 essed laterally.
The dorsal fin lies between the centre of the body and. the
posterior third of it, and its height is frorr, -4.5;, to 6.C),-. of tile
body length.
It is curved like a sickle a.lonU the i-ea.r edge. 'li7ere
are from two to four grooves orn tne throat; -Gney are not joined in
front, arid diverge postea:iorly, :,-•he f1iL.?,ers are slt:^nder and oval in
shape, and their lenj3th is from'one-nintll to one--tent-h of . tne body
length.
The flul:es are small; their spread is usually not more than
131
one-fifth of the body length. '^Ilere is only one pair of tee di. (except
in. a single si;ecies), located in the front half of to lower jaw.
Their shape and size ve.ry considerably.
The body colour is cl.a.rk--^rey or black on t„El uack, and white
or grey on tne belly.
-rhe .>pii:e consists of ueven cervical, nine or t on tiiore,cie,
ton to Lwelve lu;;lbar, -o iil '1 9 or 20 caudal ver tebi•ae.
Lense-bea',