Return to Grampus (thing) The term 'grampus' is rarely heard
these days, and it was not a formal term even when it was in
common usage. It could refer to many types of small whale,
usually either an Orca or large dolphin1. These days it most
often refers to Risso's dolphin, whose formal Latin name is
Grampus griseus; Risso's dolphin is the only species of the
genus Grampus. In the 1500s on through the 1800s grampus was a
general term, referring to a 'grand fish' (probably from the
Latin grandis piscis), and generally to those members of the
Delphinidae family that did not have a beak-like snout. As such,
they were the fish that came to the surface to snort and splash
and spout. It might also have included the Beaked Whales, which
generally do have snouts but are also larger and have
distinctive protruding tusks, disqualifying them as dolphins in
the eyes of sailors. The grampus was not quite a sea monster,
but it existed in the same general category. The splashing and
spouting were very much a part of the gra