External dimensions of Ziphius cavirostris, female, Cat. No. 20971, U.S.N.M., Barnegat City, New Jersey.
(Measured in straight lines with rope and bar.)
| Ft. | in. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total length | 19 | 4 |
| Tip of snout to eyes | 2 | 1 |
| Tip of snout to blowhole | 2 | 0 |
| Tip of snout to anterior base of pectoral fin | 3 | 10½ |
| Tip of snout to anterior base of dorsal fin | 12 | 0 |
| Tip of snout to anterior angle of vent | 12 | 3½ |
| Tip of snout to corner of mouth | 11½ | |
| Length of anterior margin of pectoral fin | 2 | 1½ |
| Length along center of pectoral fin | 1 | 7 |
| Greatest breadth across pectoral fin | 6¾ | |
| Length of anterior margin of dorsal fin | 1 | 6 |
| Length of base of dorsal fin | 1 | 0 |
| Vertical height of dorsal fin | 1 | 0 |
| Breadth of flukes from tip to tip | 5 | 5 |
| Antero-posterior length of flukes | 1 | 7 |
| Length of eye | 2 | |
| Breadth of eye | 1 | |
| Girth around eyes | 3 | 1½ |
| Girth at anterior margin of dorsal fin | 7 | 0½ |
| Girth at root of pectoral fins | 6 | 0½ |
| Breadth of lower jaw at middle of length | 4½ | |
| Breadth of upper jaw at middle of length | 5 | |
| Breadth of blowhole | 5 | |
| Distance from posterior angle of eye to ear | 4½ |
I neglected to make a full description of the color, but noted that it was stone gray, lighter above and darker below; snout nearly white. The cast, which was painted from a sketch made at Barnegat City and from pieces of skin brought to Washington, bears out this note in general, but with modifications. The color of the body as a whole is gray tinged with dull yellowish. The gray is darker on the back than on the belly, but on the latter is a large area of dark brown, reaching from near the pectoral fins to and beyond the anus, and halfway up on the sides. On this dark area are several large oval whitish blotches, some two inches in diameter. Both upper and lower jaws nearly to the angle of the mouth are cream white. On the sides and belly the gray color is speckled with black spots of about the size of a grain of wheat. The pectoral fins are dark gray above and below; the flukes were similarly colored.
A comparison of the dimensions of the two specimens above described with those of European and New Zealand specimens is afforded by the following table (the measurements being reduced to percentages of the total length):
External dimensions of Ziphius cavirostris. (Reduced to percentages of the total length.)
Column Headings: A: Newport, Rhode Island 49599 U.S.N.M., male, 1901. B: Barnegat City, New Jersey, 20971 U.S.N.M., female, 1883. C: New Brighton, New Zealand, female. D: Punta, Corsica, 1842. E: Buenos Ayres, Argentina, male, 1865.
| Measurements. | Aa | Ab | Bb | C | D | E | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ft. | in. | Ft. | in. | Ft. | in. | Ft. | in. | Ft. | in. | Ft. | in. | |
| Total length | 20 | 1 | 18 | 6 | 19 | 4 | 19 | 6 | 19 | 0 | 12 | 11½ |
| Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | |||||||
| Tip of snout to posterior margin of dorsal | 69.0 | 74.8 | 67.2 | [67.1] | [78.5] | [70.8] | ||||||
| Tip of snout to axilla | 25.3 | 28.0 | c20.0 | d24.4 | ... | c[25.0] | ||||||
| Tip of snout to eye | k12.2 | 13.3 | 10.8 | 12.8 | ... | 10.9 | ||||||
| Tip of snout to anterior end blowhole | 11.2 | 12.6 | 10.4 | ... | ... | 11.4 | ||||||
| Length of mouth | 5.4 | 5.9 | e 5.0 | 6.4 | ... | [ f] 5.3 | ||||||
| Breadth of blowhole | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.6 | ... | 1.2 | ||||||
| Length of pectoral from head of humerus | 10.8 | 11.7 | ... | g12.8 | ... | ... | ||||||
| Length of pectoral from axilla | h7.5 | 8.1 | hi8.1 | ... | g 8.3 | 8.6 | ||||||
| Greatest breadth of pectoral fin | j2.4 | j2.6 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 3.0 | ||||||
| Vertical height of dorsal fin | 4.1 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.3 | ||||||
| Breadth of flukes, tip to tip fin | 26.1 | 28.4 | 28.0 | 31.2 | ... | 27.3 | ||||||
a Curvilinear. b Straight. c To anterior base. d Lower jaw to “beginning of pectoral.” e From tip of upper jaw. f From tip of lower jaw. g Points of measurements not specified. h From the bones; from outer anterior margin of proximal expansion of ulna. i Along center. j From the bones. The external measurement originally taken by Scollick is entirely too large. k The skull gives this measurement as 10.4 per cent. The original measurement by Scollick is entirely too large and can not be correct. The same is probably true regarding length to blowhole, but I can not prove it.
The close correspondence in proportions shown in this table favors the idea of specific identity, and taken with the similarity in size, and characters of the skull, warrants, I think, the assumption that the specimens from the Atlantic coast of the United States belong to Z. cavirostris.