Volume 16, Plate XXV / Mammalia (Mammals)

Lead-Coloured Dolphin

Delphinus Plumbeus

1. The Lead-Coloured Dolphin. About eight feet long and of a uniform leaden greyish tint save the whitish tip and underside of the lower jaw, it bears a hundred and thirty-six teeth. Its movements are much less rapid than ocean dolphins, frequenting shores and proving very wary, scattering at the noise of a musket and surfacing in unexpected directions; it pursues shoals of pilchards and is abundant on the Malabar coast.
2. The Bridled Dolphin. About four and a half feet long, black on the back paling to white below, with a triangular very pointed dorsal fin near the middle and a fine cutting tail edge. Its distinguishing feature is a deeper-shaded band forming a moustache on the cheek, running from the angle of the mouth beneath the eyes; a male was harpooned thirty leagues south of Cape-de-Verd from a numerous troop.