FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 27 



REQUIEM SHARKS. FAMILY CARCHARINIDjE 



This family, containing a large number of species in tropical and temperate seas, 

 is characterized by a head of normal shape, tail with the upper lobe much larger than 

 the lower but not greatly elongate, two spineless dorsal fins, the first usually much 

 larger than the second and situated over the space between the pectorals and the 

 ventrals, a caudal peduncle lacking lateral keels, and sharp teeth. 



5. Tiger shark (Galeocerdo arcticus Faber) 



Jordan and Evermann (G. tigrinus Miiller and Henle), 1896-1900, p. 32. 

 Garman, 1913, p. 148. 



Description. — -The tiger shark is characterized among the "smooth" (spineless) 

 sharks by the fact that it has an anal as well as ventral fins, that the upper lobe of the 

 tail is much larger than the lower, that the second dorsal fin is very much smaller 

 than the first, and that the latter originates little, if any, behind the "armpit" of the 

 pectoral. The only Gulf of Maine shark with which it might be confused is the 

 dusky shark (p. 29), but it is easily separable from the latter by the more forward 

 position of the first dorsal fin and by the fact that it is spotted instead of plain 

 colored. I may also note that its teeth are large and alike in both jaws. 



The body is slender, rather heavy forward of the pectorals, and tapering 

 toward the tail. The head is large, very short, and broad. The snout is rounded 



M 



Fig. 6.— Tiger shark (Qaleocerdo arcticus) 



(not pointed) and the mouth is very broad, occupying nearly two-thirds of the 

 width of the snout. The first dorsal is high, triangular, and nearly as large as the 

 pectoral, while the second dorsal is hardly one-third to one-fourth as high as the 

 first and stands over the anal, which is of about equal size. The lower tail lobe is 

 almost half as long as the upper, the rear margin of which is notched near the tip. 



Color. — Young tiger sharks are light brown, more or less spotted and barred 

 with darker brown. These markings fade with advancing age until adults are 

 nearly plain colored. 



Size. — This is one of the largest sharks, frequently being 12 to 15 and occa- 

 sionally as much as 30 feet in length, though such a size is altogether exceptional. 

 Most specimens caught north of the Carolinas are small. 



General range. — Cosmopolitan in the warmer waters of all oceans, whence it 

 strays northward as far as Cape Cod on the American coast of the Atlantic. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — Every year a few young tiger sharks are taken 

 in the fish traps in the Woods Hole region, where, according to the records of the 

 Bureau of Fisheries, it is the latest shark to arrive, rarely being seen before August 



