298 PLAGIOSTOMATA. 



Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 389 ; Collett, Norges Fisk. p. 208 ; Canestrini, Fauna 

 d'ltal. Poiss. p. 45 ; Winther, Ich. Danm. Mar. p. 57 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 618 ; 

 Giglioli, Pesc. Peal. Catal. p. 51 ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France, i, p. 296. 



Salanouius Walkeri, Flem. 1. c. p. 169. 



Squalus (Carcharinus) lamia et coniubica, Blainv. 1. c. pp. 88, 96, t. xiv, f. 2. 



Carcharias griseus, Ayres, Bost. Journ. N. H. iv, 1844, p. 293, pi. xii, f. 4. 



Isurus comubicus, Gray, Catal. Chondr. p. 58 ; White, Catal. p. 128. 



Porbeagle, Couch, Fishes Brit. Isles, i, p. 41, pi. viii. 



Body thick and high anteriorly, becoming very narrow near the tail. Snout 

 conical, and with numerous small punctures. Eye rather large, oval and placed 

 over the middle of the mouth. Nostrils one-third of the distance between the 

 mouth and the end of the snout. Teeth lanceolate, with a small basal cusp in 

 large examples : If -if > the third on either side of the median line in the 

 upper jaw is small, while there is no central tooth. Small spiracles placed 

 midway between the eye and first gill-opening have been observed (Turner, 

 Journ. Anat. and Physiol. 1875, p. 301) : Giinther has found them absent. 

 Gill-opening rather long, equalling about half the distance between the base 

 of the pectoral and dorsal fins, the last is close to the base of the pectoral fiu. 

 Fins first dorsal somewhat triangular, it commences on a line slightly behind the 

 insertion of the pectoral, rather falciform, and does not extend to above the 

 ventrals, which latter are rhomboidal. Second dorsal small, situated above the 

 anal. Caudal lunated, the lower lobe the shorter, the upper notched near its 

 extremity. A well-developed keel along the side of the tail, commencing opposite 

 the second dorsal fin: a notch above the commencement of the caudal fin. 

 Vertebra? 155. Colour generally dull gray above and white beneath. Mr. 

 Dunn in 1880 sent me a small one from Mevagissey, it had a light edge 

 to the hind portion of the dorsal fin, which he suggested may be a sign of imma- 

 turity or the sexual indication of females. In July, 1881, the same excellent 

 observer examined two large examples : a male, 9 feet 5 inches long, entirely 

 gray ; and a female, 8 feet 4 inches long, in which the back part of the dorsal fin 

 was white, as observed existed in the young. It had a large hook in its jaws, 

 which certainly did not seem to be of British manufacture. In its stomach was a 

 large dog-fish, partially digested. 



This species was first described by Dr. Caius, from a specimen stranded in 

 Suffolk, between Lowestoft and Pakefield, February, 1570. Pennant gave a 

 description and figure of the Beaumaris shark, received from the Rev. H. Davies, 

 while he describes the Porbeagle, from the figure in Borlase's Cornwall, wherein 

 the snout is more pointed ; but Donovan observes " there is in fact not the 

 slightest difference between the original drawing of the Beaumaris shark by 

 Mr. Davis and the Squalus comubicus they are both the same species." 



Names. Beaumaris sliarh, so termed by Pennant, due to the locality of the 

 one he described : porbeagle apparently so termed by Borlase as a compound of 

 porpoise and a beagle or hunting dog. Morgi maiur, Welsh. Lamie long-7iez, 

 French. 



Habits. This fish is a summer and autumn visitor to our west coast, and 

 wanderers are frequently taken on the east of England and Scotland. It is often 

 found in small companies. It is said to be a fierce and wary species. Couch 

 mentions an instance in which one, in the pi'ospect of being taken, sprang at a 

 fisherman and tore a piece out of his clothing. In the stomach of one taken at 

 Mevagissey, mentioned below, were only dog-fishes in a partly digested condition, 

 so that even these vermin find an enemy and destroyer. Mr. Dunn has observed 

 that it seems to prefer rough slimy fishes for food as picked-dogs and John 

 Dorees. Cuttles, Sepiidas, have likewise been found in their stomachs, and Couch 

 observed in one instance three full-grown hakes. 



Means of capture. Baited lines, often taking those laid for other fishes as 

 whiting. The head of one was given me in August, 1881, by Mr. Hearder of 

 Plymouth. This shai^k was captured on a whiting line, off the " Stone," in the 

 act of taking a whiting off the hook. Its length was 3 feet 6 inches, and its 

 weight 58 lb. On investigating the contents of its intestinal tract, three 



