A Discussion on the Porpoise Recently Taken from the.
Huangpu, and Other Members of the Same Family Br Antuur De C, Sowensy, F. ZS.
The Indian or finless-backed porpoise, Neomeris phocanoides, (Cuvier), has long been known to inhabit the Yangtze ie not so generally known that thi interesting species of Cetacean, is comparatively common in Huangpu, ranging from Wusung at least as far up as the Seven Mile Reach, Quite recently, that' is to " say, carly in February, a fine specimen was brought to the writer, having wen captured in the Huangpy close to the Customs Jetty. Thi was a young male in excellent condition, which presumably must have strayed from the main school and lost its way, for, from all accounts, it was seen by itself in the vicinity already indicated by some boatmen, one of whom caught it] with a boat-hook. This is not the first porpoise of this species that hag been taken in the Huangpu, for there is a stuffed specimen, with its skeleton mounted alongside, on exhibition in the Shanghai Museum which is labelled as from this river.
Looking up the records one, finds that the Indian porpoise is are believed to be all that now remains of horny or bony armour that existed in the prehistoric an-castral whales known as Zeuglodonts, This species of Cetacean is unique in the possession of this remnant armature, a fact which makes it particularly interesting to zoologists, who see in it a conneeting link with the past. The jaws are short and are grined vith fewer teeth than is usual in this type of Cetaccan. The teeth have spade-shaped crowns, much in the common porpoise. In life this porpoise is of a dark slate-grey colour, the skin quickly turning black out of water. In the specimen under discussion there was no white except a very little round the lips; though in some specimens there is a certain amount of whitish colour on the belly. Our specimen measured 303 inches in Length from the tip of the snout to the crutch between the flukes, and 288 inches in circumference at the thickest part of the body. The flippers measured 84 inches length, and the tail flukes 11} me hes across, 3 This species is said not to exceed four or five feet in Jength when fully adult, so that one specimen, though immature, must Tue Ixo1ax horrors AES IN THE HeaNere OFF rite ous Jerry abundant off the coasts of India oth the Bombay and. Madea sides trid. is known along the China coasts and of Japan. As already stated it ranges far up the Yangtze cimens having been taken ichang and at the south of the Tung Ting Lake.
The southward extension of "its range rons a2 far a8 the Cape of Hope on the coast of South vied, the Indian. porpoise may. be said to inhabit the fringes the Indian Ocenn, and adjacent can As far an ie known shallow water specien; that. isto fay, it ne not been recorded from the' open sta, ut only frou coastal yeaters or up the estuaries of tidal reeks, and" in rivers and lakes the interior. be about three-quarters grown,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.