SHARKS 



ELFIN OR GOBLIN SHARK. 

 (Genus Scapanorhynchus.) Fig. 10. 



The snout is long and the mouth is capable of being greatly 

 protruded. The dorsal fins are smaller than the pelvics or 

 the anal. The pit at the root of the caudal fin is indistinct 

 and the lower lobe of the fin itself is not very prominent. The 

 coloration is generally greyish-brown, with the lower parts 

 somewhat paler. The fins are all darker tov/ards their edges. 



Grows to a length of about 14 feet. 



The single known species (S. owstoni) is well known in Japan, 

 and has also been recorded from the Indian Ocean. It probably 

 has a much wider distribution in warm seas, for a second species 

 which has been described from deep water off the coast of 

 Portugal is probably identical. 



Originally discovered in 1898, this curious shark, locally 

 known as " Tenguzame ", is taken from time to time in the 

 warm Black Current or gulf stream of Japan. Its occurrence 

 in the Indian Ocean was recorded in an unusual way. A 

 , break " occurred in one of the submarine telegraph cables 

 lying at a depth of about 750 fathoms on the ocean floor, and 

 when the cable was brought to the surface for examination 

 the damage was found to have been caused by a shark, one 

 of whose broken teeth was lodged between the coils of wire 

 protecting the cable. Closer examination of this tooth 

 revealed its owner to have been an Elfin Shark. Little is known 

 of the feeding habits of this creature, but, judging by the form 

 of its curiously protrusible jaws, and the flat blade-like snout, 

 it seems likely that it is mainly a ground feeder, and the 

 supposition is that in the case quoted above the shark pierced 

 the cable when feeding on barnacles or other succulent forms 

 of animal life growing on its outer cover. It is of interest to 

 note that the Elfin Shark is a survivor of a very ancient type, 

 for fossil sharks have been found in Cretaceous rocks which 

 are essentially similar to the form existing to-day. 



