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Narwhal tusks, which are made of spiraling ivory and are as long as nine feet, are sold legally in some parts of the world, including Canada, and can fetch prices as high as $30,000. But in the United States, their trade is mostly prohibited by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The defendants, Jay G. Conrad of Tennessee and Andrew J. Zarauskas of New Jersey, face four kinds of charges in a 29-count indictment filed in federal court here late last year: conspiracy, conspiracy to launder money, smuggling goods into the United States and money laundering. Two Canadians, whose names were redacted in the indictment, were also charged.

According to the indictment, the Canadians obtained the tusks in Canada and hid them in the false bottom of a customized utility trailer. The indictment says they smuggled the tusks across the border through Calais, Me., and used a FedEx in Bangor to send at least 50 shipments of the tusks to buyers like Mr. Conrad and Mr. Zarauskas.

Mr. Conrad and Mr. Zauraskas were arraigned separately, and neither was detained after appearing.

This city's barren federal courtroom seemed an incongruous place to discuss the whimsical-looking toothed whale — a creature whose tusk has, throughout history, captured attention from kings and emperors, who thought they had magical powers, and scientists like Charles Darwin, who was curious about the evolutionary role of the tusks.

Narwhals are about 15 feet long, not including their tusks, and live primarily in the Canadian Arctic, where they are dependent on dense winter ice for protection. They are listed as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. "Narwhals are the most vulnerable of the ice-dependent species — vulnerable to climate change," said Peter Ewins, a senior officer at World Wildlife Fund Canada.

The tusk, found mostly on males, is actually a single tooth growing out of the upper lip. Many scientists believe it is a sexual trait, like peacock feathers or antlers on a stag. "It's a sexual thing that males use for developing dominant hierarchies and competing for females," said Kristin Laidre, a research scientist at the Polar Science Center of the University of Washington. She spends a month or two each year in Greenland, studying narwhals in their icy habitat.

"They are among the whales that we know very little about, because of where they live and because of how they behave," said Dr. Laidre, who explained that they can dive more than a mile underwater when feeding. "You can't even really sit and watch them."

Inuit hunters have long harvested narwhals for subsistence, consuming their meat, blubber and skin, which is a source of vitamin C. The governments of Canada and Greenland permit hunters to kill about 400 narwhals in total per year — some of whom still do so traditionally, using harpoons shot from handmade kayaks.

As for the tusks from those hunted animals, "they're mostly used for a display item," said David Boone, an ivory dealer based in Brinnon, Wash., who occasionally sells narwhal tusks that were in the United States before 1972, which is legal.

"The beautiful thing about a narwhal tusk," he said, "is that twisting, they're very unique."

According to his financial affidavit, Mr. Zarauskas, 59, has no income. He walked into court wearing loose green pants and a khaki jacket, holding a printed copy of the indictment against him. "It is obviously a very unusual case, and we'll make sure that Mr. Zarauskas's rights are preserved," said his court-appointed lawyer, Stephen Smith.

Mr. Conrad, 66, wore a gray fleece over a dark dress shirt and answered the judge loudly and clearly, with a slight Southern accent. He is a collector of animal-related items, according to his court-appointed lawyer, Virginia G. Villa.

During Mr. Conrad's arraignment, the federal magistrate judge, Margaret J. Kravchuk, asked if some of those assets could be liquidated to cover his legal costs.

"The market for shrunken heads being what it is, yes," Ms. Villa said.

If convicted, Mr. Zarauskas and Mr. Conrad could each face up to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine no greater than $500,000.

In 2009, David L. Place, an antiques dealer from Nantucket, Mass., who was convicted of illegally importing and trafficking up to $400,000 worth of narwhal tusks and sperm whale teeth, was sentenced to serve 33 months in prison.