Family 17. EPIODONTIDÆ.
Epiodontina, Gray, Cat. S. & W. p. 327.
Epiodontidæ, Gray, Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 9.
Blower lunate. Skull:—beak simple; maxillaries not dilated above; intermaxillaries enlarged behind, forming a more or less deep cavity round the nostrils. Teeth 2 or 4 in front of the lower jaw, conical or cylindrical. Cervical vertebræ:—first, second, and third united into one mass, which is produced and truncated above; the rest thin, free.
1. EPIODON.
Epiodon, Gray, l. c. pp. 327, 340; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 10.
Skull:—vomer simple, small; intermaxillaries elevated, and forming a moderately deep, well-marked basin round the nostrils. Fingers 5; carpal bones 6; phalanges 2, 3, 4, 3, 3. Sternal bones separate from the front, lanceolate. Vertebra 42; the “front caudal with chevron bones. First four cervical vertebræ united by their bodies into one mass” (Ostéog. Cét. t. 22. f. 4).
1. Epiodon Desmarestii.
Epiodon Desmarestii, Gray, l. c. p. 341; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 10.
Ziphius aresques, Gervais, Ostéog. Cétac. t. 21. f. 1-4.
Ziphius decavirostris (de Z. aresques), Gervais, Ostéog. Cét. t. 22. f. 4-11.
Ziphius cavirostris, Gervais, Zool. et Paléon. Française, t. 38. f. 1, t. 39, f. 2-7.
Inhab. North Sea and Mediterranean, Hérault.
2. Epiodon australis.
Ziphiorrhynchus cryptodon, Burmeister, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1866. xvii. p. 94, t. 3.
Epiodon cryptodon, Burm., l. c. p. 303, t. 6; Gray, Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 10.
Delphinorhynchus australis, Burmeister, Zeitsch. Nat. vol. xxvi. 1865, p. 262; An. Mus. Buenos Ayres, t. 15-21.
Ziphius de Buenos Ayres, Gervais, Ostéog. Cét. t. 31. f. 5.
Inhab. Buenos Ayres.
Vertebræ 49: cervical 7, dorsal 10, lumbar 12, caudal 20.
2. PETRORHYNCHUS.
Petrorhynchus, Gray, Cat. S. & W. pp. 327, 342; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 10.
Skull trigonal. Vomer swollen, forming a large, elongated tubercle between the callous intermaxillaries. Intermaxillaries forming a deep basin round the nostrils.
1. Petrorhynchus mediterraneus.
Ziphius cavirostris, Gervais, Zool. et Paléon. Franç. t. 38. f. 2, t. 39. f. 1.
Ziphius du Canton Gironde, Ostéog. Cét. t. 21. fig. 6.
Ziphius fos. des Bouches du Rhône, Ostéog. Cét. t. 21. f. 7.
Ziphius de Corse, Ostéog. Cét. t. 21. figs. 8, 9.
Inhab. Mediterranean.
2. Petrorhynchus capensis.
B.M.
Petrorhynchus capensis, Gray, l. c. p. 346, figs. 67, 68; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 10.
Ziphius indicus, Van Beneden; Gray, Cat. S. & W. p. 346, fig. 69.
Ziphius du Cap-de-Bonne-Espérance, Gervais, Ostéog. Cét. t. 21. f. 10.
Ziphius de la mer des Indes, Gervais, Ostéog. Cét. t. 21. f. 11-13.
Inhab. South Sea. Cape sea (H. Layard).
Though M. van Beneden’s figure (copied in Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 347. f. 69) is so unlike the figure of Petrorhynchus capensis in the Cat. Seals & Whales, pp. 344 & 345. figs. 67 & 68, yet the cast of the beak of M. van Beneden’s specimen resembles the latter figure and our specimen.