DISCUSSION OP SPECIES AM) THEIE DISTRIBUTION. 9 



Echiiiorhinua apinosus, Blainville, Bull. Sri., lsni. 121. — Fanne Fraucaise, 66. — Bonaparte, Icon, Faun. 

 Hal.. Pesci, in. pi. cxxxvhi.-MOi.lkr and IIini.k. s. I',. Plag., 96, pi. lx. — Yarrell, Brit. Pish., 2d i d. 

 u, 532, fig. ; 3d eel., ii, 529. — Costa, Fauna, Nap. Chond., xvi. — Dumeril, tchthyologie, i, 159. — Gunther, 



Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., vm. 428.— i: ; and Bean, Bull. Essex Institute, 1877, 31. — Canestrini, 



Fauna It a lira. Pesci, 12. — Jordan, loc. (it.. 13. — Giglioli, I'rsri Italici, Cat., 53 ; Elenco, 1883, 113. — Day, 

 Fishes Gt. Brit.<& Ireland, n, 323, pi. CLXll, Bg. 2. 



Goniodus spinosus, Agassi z, Poiss. Fuss., m. pi. E, fig. 13, 



Centrophorua spinoms, Swainson, Pishes, 1 1, 315. 



Squalus bruous, Bonn \ 1 1 i:ki.. Encyclope'die Methodiqne. 



Echinorhinus obesus, Smith, illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, !838-'42, Pisces, pi. i. 



Spiracles behind the eye, behind the vertical from the angle of the mouth. Teeth 

 ~~!\ Dorsal fins close together. Each tnbercle with a small spine in the center. Brownish 

 •violet, with or without dark spots. {Gunther.) 



A single individual has been observed in the western Atlantic. This drifted ashore at 

 Provincetown in December, L878(Goode and Bean, loc. tit.). In the Mediterranean it is rare, 

 and lives at considerable depths (Oanestrini, Fauna d' Italia. Pesci, p. 42). Kisso men 

 tions one weighing 401) pounds. Day records the occurrence of some thirty individuals in 

 British waters since L828, the largest 9 feet in length; this was a female and contained 

 seventeen eggs, and was taken oft' the Eddystone in January, 1869. Since captures in this 

 region have been made at all seasons of the year, it would appear that its breeding place 

 and home is in the northeastern Atlantic, and that its infrequent capture is due to its habit 

 of living on the offshore ledges and banks at considerable depths. As the synonymy shows, 

 it was recorded by Smith from the Cape of Good Hope. It may be regarded as peculiar to 

 the eastern pari of the Atlantic Hasin, the Cape Cod specimen being doubtless a waif. 



Family SQUALID^E, Gunther. 



Spinaci&a, GOnther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus.. vm, 1870, U7-425.— Jordan and Gilbert, Bull, xvi, U. 8. Nat. 

 Mus., 1883, 15. 



Selachians with body somewhat elongate and head depressed; eyes lateral; nictitating 

 membrane absent; mouth inferior, rather large, with a deep groove along either side; teeth 

 compressed, varied; nostrils inferior, lateral, near the front margin of the snout; spiracles 

 moderate; gill openings moderate, five on each side and all in front of the pectoral tins: 

 dorsal tins two. each armed with a spine; the first dorsal in front of the pectorals; anal tin 

 lacking; caudal tin with the lower lobe small or obsolete; ventials far back. 



Of the seven genera comprising this family only two, Squalus (=AcantMas) and Oxy- 

 notus {=Gentrina), are shallow-water forms. Of these, all the species are represented in 

 the Mediterranean. The family Spiitacidw is peculiarly characteristic of the Mediterranean 

 fauna, all known species except three, one of which is from the northwestern Atlantic and 

 two are from Japan, occurring in that sea or waters immediately adjacent. Squalus is the 

 most cosmopolitan of the genera, but does not enter the North Pacific. 



The deep-sea forms of these little sharks are especially abundant in the great depths 

 outside the entrance to tin' Mediterranean, where an extensive fishery is carried on. 



KEY TO THE GENERA OF SPINACLTXS!. 



(Adapted from Vaillant.) 



I. Trunk more or less rounded. 



A. Upper teet h bicuspid. 



1. Lower teeth oblique, with trenchant inner edges Etmopterus 



2. Lower teeth tricuspid Centroscyllium 



B. Upper teeth oblique, with trenchant inner edges; Lower teeth similar. .. [Squalus. — Shallow water.] 

 ('. Upper teeth simple, pointed. 



1. Lower teeth more or less ereci , triangular Scymnodon 



2. Lower teeth oblique, with trenchant inner edges. 



a. Dorsal spines prominent ; " upper teeth triangular," Vaillant Centrophorus 



b. Dorsal spines hidden; "upper teeth conical," Vaillant CentroSCYMNUS 



3. Lower teeth simple, straight Paracentroscs llium* 



II. Trunk rather elevated, trihedral. Teeth erect, conical in uppei jaw ; triangular, serrated in lower jaw. 



OXV.NOTUS 



A deep-sea genus from the Bay of Bengal, described byAlcockiu Ann. ami Mag. Nat. Hist., 1889,379. 



