Abstract

The Chinese finless porpoise of the Changjiang river, Neophocaena asiaeorientalis (PILLERI and GIHR, 1972) presents a taxonomic entity which differs from N. phocaenoides (G. CUVIER, 1829) of south and south-west Asia in a large number of constant morphological and ecological features. These include normality or reduction of the optic system, extent of the denticulated area of the dorsal skin, shape of head and skull, colouring, and a totally different ecology, so that there is no difficulty in separating the two taxa at species level.