Rorqual
the name given to certain whales, closely allied to the common or whalebone whales, but distinguished by having a dorsal fin, with the throat and under parts wrinkled with deep longitudinal folds, which are supposed to be susceptible of great dilatations, but the use of which is as yet unknown. Two or three species are known, but they are rather avoided on account of their ferocity, the ROSA shortness and coarseness of their baleen or whalebone, and the small quantity of oil they produce. The N. rorqual (Balænoptera boops) attains a great size, being found from 80 to over 100 feet in length, and is thus the largest living animal known. The rorqual feeds on cod, herring, pilchards, and other fish, in pursuing which it is not seldom stranded on the shore.