DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 1") 



Dr. Ij. Percival Wrigbt reported to Dr. Giiuther that he had seen the Portuguese fish- 

 ermen i-ai)turiiig this foiiii at a depth of 400 or ."iOO fatlionis, with hand lines l!,4<t() feet in 

 length, and tliat they came from tlic same depth witli Hynlnnrniti. 



Centroscymnus obscurHs, Vaillant (V'oy. Travailleur et Talisman, (>7, pi. ii, tig. L'), is 

 doubtfully assigned to this genus, having close affinities also with Vcntroiihonoi. It was 

 taken ott' Soudan in I'OO fathoms and below. 



OXYNOTUS, Rafinesque. 



OxynotuK, Riifiue.s(|uc, Indice, 1810, lii. 



Cviilrhia, CuviEK, Kegne Auimal, od. 1, 1817, ii, 130. 



Spiuacoid sharks, with elevated, trihedral trunk, aud with a fold of skin along each 

 abdominal edge, and upon dorsal ridges between the tins; two dorsal tins, each with strong 

 spine; uoaual. Mouth uarrow, with deep lateral grooves. Lower teeth small, erect, trian- 

 gular, serrated; upper teeth slender, conical, grouped in front of jaw. Spiracles wide, im- 

 mediately behind eye. P>rancliial openings narrow. Xo nictitating membrane. 



Mediterranean and adjacent parts of Atlantic. 



OXYNOTl'.S CENTRINA,(Limi.), Rafine-sque. (Figure 21.) 



Squnlus cenU-ina, LiNN.Eis, Syat. Nat., ed. x, 17.58, 1. 233 (from Mofllterrauean, based on descriptions of 



Kondelet aud Salviaui). 

 Uxiinotiis centrina, Kafinesquk. Ind. d' Ittiologia Siciliana, 1810, 45, 60. — Gill, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. X. V., 



VII, 40.-). 

 Hqmilits {.Icanthorhiniis) centrina, 1'l.^in'VILle, Fauue Franfaise, 61, pi. XV, fig. 1. 



Ventrina Sulviani, Kis.so, Hist. Nat. Eur. M<?rid., Poiss., in, 13.5. — Boxapahtr, Icon. Faun. Ital., Pesei, cxi.i, 

 fig. 2. — MULLER and Hexle, S. B. Plag., 87. — BoCAGEand Capeli.o, Peixes Plagio8t.,32. — Capello, Joru. 

 Acad. Sci. Lisboa, ii, 142, fig. of teeth. — Guxtiier, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., viii, 417. — Canesthini, Pesci 

 d' Italia, 41.— Guichenot, Explor. .Sii. d' Alg&ia, Poissons,126.— Day, Fisli. G. B. & Ireland, ii, 318.— 

 GiGLioLi, Elenco, 1883, 112. 



Centrina oxijnoius, Swainson, Fishes, ii. 36.5. 



Centrina. rnlprrnlii, AIorkai'. Poiss. de la France, I, 3.55, (ig. (U. 



The Centrina, called in . Italy ^' jx'Sce-porco,^'' ^^pucrvo," and ^^pourc-marin,''' in Por- 

 tugal '■'■ peixe-porco,,'''' in France '■^ kHmiintin,"' is not nuusual in the Mediterranean, and indi- 

 viduals have been taken at considerable depths on the Setubal banks, by Portuguese natural- 

 ists, while Moreau records a straggler from the mouth of the Loire. In 1877 one was taken 

 in 2(3 fathoms off the- coast of (.'orn wall, and in ])ast .\('ars the species ajjpears to liiive strayed 

 as far north as Cornwall. 



Its claim to a jtosition among the deep-sea fl.shes is doubtful, but in the o])inion of some 

 ichthyologists it is an inhabitant of great depths. 



It has never been found outside of the northwest Atlantic. 



Family SCYLLIORHINIDyE. 



Scylliidw, GiNTUKU, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., viii, 1870, 400.— Gill, Faui. Fishes, I'l.— Day, Fishes Gt. Britain 

 & Ireland, li, 309. 



A family of sharks distinguished by the position of their dorsal tins and tlicir laying 

 eggs like those of the rays. The body is more elongated than in the sharks generally; the 

 scales developed as tine shagreen; the head depressed and oval; the nostrils with large flaps; 

 the mouth inferior and arched ; the teeth small (several series being in use at the same time), 

 compressed, and cuspidate; branchial apertures five, the posterior of which are above the 

 pectorals; si>iraeles behind the eyes well developed; dorsal tins two, the anterior above or 

 behind the ventrals; anal fin itresent, variable in i)osition; caudal fin extended toward the 

 end of the tail, and with the lower lobe little produced downward at its front margin; pec- 

 torals moderately developed and with rounded angles. 



