Grampus , a porpoise-like cetacean, belonging to the genus phocoena (Cuvier); English writers, however, make a generic name of the word grampus, calling the animal G. orca (Fabr.). The name seems to be a corruption of the French grand poisson (large fish), to which its size well entitles it. Other names are tinner and black-fish whale, from its dorsal fin and prevailing color; killer or thrasher, from its alleged habit of attacking and killing the whale. It attains a length of 25 to 30 ft., with a circumference of 10 or 12; the snout is short and rounded, the lower jaw broader and shorter than the upper; the teeth are about 44, 22 above and 22 below, large, strong, conical, and somewhat hooked; the so-called dorsal fin, near the middle of the back, is 4 ft. high, and the pectorals are large and oval; the tail is lunate, thick, and powerful. The color is black above, suddenly changing to white on the sides and beneath; a large white patch behind and above the eyes. It is occasionally seen on our coast, and not unfrequently on the shores of Europe and in the middle Atlantic; its favorite haunts are the northern regions, in the vicinity of Greenland and Spitzbergen. They arc often met in small herds of six or eight, chasing each other as if in sport; they are swift and strong, which renders their capture difficult, and they yield comparatively little oil.

The grampus is exceedingly voracious and entirely carnivorous, devouring large fish, such as cod, halibut, skates, turbots, etc, smaller cetaceans, and even seals. American whalemen call it killer and thrasher, and affirm that a herd of them will surround a large whale, bite and tear away its flesh with their powerful teeth, and finally weary and destroy it; the accounts of such cetacean combats are probably exaggerated, but from the size, strength, and voracious habits of the grampus, no doubt even whales sometimes fall victims to their hungry herds. The oil, though small in quantity, is of excellent quality. Gray, in the Spicilegia Zoologica, vol. ii., describes other species, as G. intermedius, Heavisidii, and ob-scurus, the last two from the Cape of Good Hope; all the species are frequently called dolphins, though they have not the prolonged beak of the latter.

Grampus (Grampus orca).