THE CETACEA OF THE NEW ZEALAND oSEAS. 557 28. A Review of the Cetacea of the New Zealand Seas. — I. By W. E. B. Oliver, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Dominion Museum, Wellington, N.Z. [Received May 18, 1922 : Read June 13, 1922.] (Plates I.-IY.*) Except the popular accounts by Waite, and by Hutton and Drummond, no general list of the New Zealand Cetacea has been published since Hector's paper on the Delphinidse in 1887. Having a number of notes made on various occasions to put on record, I take the opportunity of reviewing the Whales and Dolphins of our seas. The' recorded knowledge of the group is very incomplete ; and, moreover, some errors are apparent. The museums at Wellington and Christchurch contain a fair number of skeletons • those of Dunedin and Wanganui fewer. The only repre-sentatives of the Cetacea in the Auckland Museum appear to be three skulls. The specimens in Christchurch and Dunedin have, in the main, been recorded, but in W^ellington and Wanganui there are some skeletons of considerable interest which have not hitherto been described. These are mentioned in the present paper. Besides cataloguing the specimens in the principal museums in New Zealand, I have included those specimens from New Zealand that I have been able to trace in the museums of Australia, America, and Europe. Many of these I have examined. The short descriptions given with the lists refer mainly to variable characters ; and, where I myself have not examined the specimen, the author from whom I have quoted is given. An attempt has also been made to give the generic and specific names in accordance with the International E-ules of Zoological Nomen-clatvu^e. The litei'ature on the Cetacea is very extensive, but some of it has to be used with caution. This applies to many of the writings of Dr. J. E. Gray, who unfortunately gave new-names on quite inisufficient grounds, sometimes founding genera and species on drawings and photographs he appeared not to understand. I have quoted only the principal references, including those where new names are pi'oposed or where there are descriptions based on specimens. I cannot claim, to have added a single species to the list of New Zealand cetaceans ; on the contrary, I have omitted two, Delphmapte7~us leucas and Hyperoodon planifrons, and hope that the evidence that neither belongs to our fauna will be accepted. It will appear from the following account that there is much to be learned about the distribution and habits of the cetaceans of our seas ; moreover, collection of perfect skeletons and descriptions of the external characters of the animals is much to be desired. In some cases the species are only known from skulls or skeletons. * For explanation of the Plates, see p. 585.
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