Suborder III. PHYSETEROIDEA.
Reading edition
Physeteroidea, Gray, l. c. p. 195; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 3.
Physeteridæ (Physeterinæ), Flower, Tr. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 113.
Head blunt. Nostrils longitudinal, parallel, or diverging, each covered with a valve, the right often obliterated. Teeth many in the lower jaw, fitting into holes in the gums of the upper one. Lachrymal bone none distinct. “Costal cartilages not ossified. The hinder ribs losing their tubercular and retaining their capitular articulation with the vertebræ. The greater number of the cervical vertebræ ankylosed together. Pterygoid bones thick, produced backwards, meeting in the middle line, and not involuted to form the outer wall of the postpalatine air-sinus. Symphysis of mandible of moderate or excessive length. No functional teeth in the upper jaw. Mandibular teeth various, often much reduced in number. Lachrymal bones usually large and distinct. Bones of the skull raised so as to form an elevated prominence or crest behind the anterior nares. Orbit of small or moderate size. Pectoral limbs small. Dorsal fin usually present.”—Flower.
Family 6. CATODONTIDÆ.
Catodontina, Gray, l. c. pp. 386, 387.
Catodontidæ, Gray, Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 3.
Head compressed, truncated in front, very large. Blowers separate, linear, in front of the upper part of the head. Mouth inferior, linear. Pectoral fin short, broad, truncate. Dorsal hump rounded. Skull elongate. Crown concave, surrounded by a high perpendicular wall formed by the doubled-up maxilla and occipital bones. Upper jaw toothless. Atlas free; rest of cervical vertebræ united by their bodies and spines into a consolidated mass.
1. CATODON.
Catodon, Gray, l. c. pp. 196, 386, 387; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 3.
Physeter, Flower, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 309.
The atlas vertebra transverse, nearly twice as broad as high; the central canal subtrigonal, narrow below. Skull nearly one-third the entire length of the body. Lachrymal bone wanting. The zygomatic process is formed of the malar bone. Vertebral column rough and rather spongy. Vertebræ 50: 7 cervical, 11 dorsal, 8 lumbar, 24 caudal. The atlas separate; the other 6 cervical united by their bodies and spines into one consolidated mass, and sometimes united to the first dorsal vertebra. The atlas subquadrangular, broader than long. The transverse process truncated. Upper edge nearly straight, lower slightly curved. Neural canal triangular, one of the angles directed downwards. The thyro-hyal triangular, thick in front, thinner behind; the basihyal broad and flat. The basihyal and thyro-hyal united. The ribs long, all but the first slender and light. The first rib is short, broad, and very thick near the lower end. Sternum large, triangular, the apex turned backwards. The broad front end nearly straight, composed of two large anterior and a small posterior piece. Pectoral limb small. Scapula higher than broad; outer surface concave, inner convex. Acromion very large, dilated at the end. Coracoid large, narrow, and about half the length of the acromion. Humerus compressed. Radius and ulna not quite so long as the humerus, often united at the ends and separate in the middle. The carpus wide and short. The carpal bones six, nearly in a single row. The fingers five, all well developed, the second, third, and fourth not differing greatly in length, the fourth the shortest; the first consisting of two, the second and third of six, the fourth of five, and the fifth of four joints; the second finger two-thirds the length of the arm-bones.
The skull of the young animal is much shorter and broader than in the adult (Flower, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. tab. 57).
1. Catodon macrocephalus.
B.M.
Catodon macrocephalus, Gray, l. c. pp. 196 (f. 54), 202, 387; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Physeter macrocephalus, Flower, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 309, tab. 55 to 61, and woodcuts.
Inhab. Tropical seas, accidentally in the temperate ones.
Mr. Flower (Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi.) considers C. australis, Gray, l. c. p. 206, fig. 55, the same species; and certainly there does not appear to be any character in the skeleton to divide them.
Maury remarks:—“The Sperm-Whale, according to the result of this chart, appears never to double the Cape of Good Hope. It doubles Cape Horn. Since this fish delights in warm water, shall we not expect to find off Cape Horn an under-current of warm water heavier with its salt?”—Maury, Whale-Charts, p. 267.
How far the species indicated range beyond the habitats whence they were received is yet to be discovered and recorded. No doubt their range is influenced by many local circumstances (peculiarities in the currents, and disposition of the food) that are not easily observed or understood.
2. MEGANEURON.
Meganeuron, Gray, l. c. pp. 386, 387; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
The atlas vertebra subcircular, rather broader than high. The central canal subcircular, in the middle of the body, widened above.
The rest of the animal not known; it is placed in Catodontidæ because this family is the only one that has the atlas separate from the cervical vertebræ and of the simple form.
1. Meganeuron Krefftii.
Meganeuron Krefftii, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 440; Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 388, figs. 94-97; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Inhab. Australian seas.
Atlas 13 inches wide.
Family 7. PHYSETERIDÆ.
Physeterina, Gray, l. c. pp. 386, 390.
Physeteridæ, Gray, Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Head depressed, rounded in front. Blowers linear (often only the one on the left side open), at the back of the forehead. Mouth small, inferior, rounded. Dorsal fin compressed, falcate. Pectoral fin elongate, falcate. Skull short; crown concave; hinder part of the wall formed by the maxillaries, and divided, as it were, into two subequal parts by a central bony ridge, which is more or less twisted towards the right side. Upper jaw toothless. Atlas and cervical vertebræ all united into a solid mass.
1. PHYSETER.
Physeter, Gray, l. c. pp. 196, 210, 386; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Head large, rather depressed in front. Skull ⸺?
Only known from Sibbald’s description, which, like his others, is very specific; and all his other accounts of animals have been proved to be correct.
Mr. Flower has no faith in Sibbald’s account of this animal, and says, “If the Linnæan genus Physeter is to be kept in abeyance until the rediscovery of Sibbald’s ‘Balæna macrocephala tripinna,’ it is to be feared that it may ultimately disappear altogether from zoological literature.”—Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 369.
1. Physeter tursio.
Physeter tursio, Linn., Gray, l. c. p. 212; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Inhab. North Sea, Scotland (Sibbald, 1687). Length 52 or 53 feet.
2. KOGIA.
Kogia, Gray, l. c. pp. 196, 215, 386, 391; Flower, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 114.
Head moderate, blunt and high in front; left blower only open. Skull short and broad; the septum that divides the crown of the skull very sinuous, folded so as to form a funnel-shaped cavity.
1. Kogia breviceps.
Kogia breviceps, Gray, l. c. pp. 217, 391; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Inhab. Cape of Good Hope.
Perhaps the next is the same species.
2. Kogia Macleayii.
B.M.
Kogia Macleayii, Gray, l. c. p. 391; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Physeter simus, Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 30, t. 10, 11, 12, 13, ♀ (not skeleton, t. 11. f. 2).
Inhab. Australia, India. Length 10 feet, young.
The difference between Kogia and Euphysetes does not depend on the sex of the animals. Mr. Krefft described a male, and Professor Owen a female specimen; the latter mistook the two drawings of the same specimen for the two sexes, deceived by certain additions surreptitiously made to Mr. Elliot’s drawings; but the additions, especially the penis, are not represented on the plates, and the artist (Mr. Willis) says he received no directions to leave out any part of the drawing, and accurately copied them. The measurements given in the paper do not agree with those in Mr. Elliot’s notes made from the living animal; and reference to them would have prevented all this confusion.
3. EUPHYSETES.
Euphysetes, Gray, l. c. pp. 196, 215, 386, 392; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Head moderate, blunt and high in front. Skull short and broad. The septum that divides the cavity of the crown of the skull simple, longitudinal, only slightly curved.
Vertebræ 51: cervical 7 (all united into one mass), dorsal 14, caudal 40. Basihyal broad and flat, as in Catodon.
1. Euphysetes Grayii.
Euphysetes Grayii, MacLeay; Gray, l. c. pp. 218, 392; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Physeter simus, Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. t. 11. f. 2 (skeleton only).
Inhab. Australia.