The ?{atural History of the Frilled Shar}{ 299 



he figures (upside down) and describes the fragments of the reproductive system left by 

 the fishermen in the process of evisceration — the badly preserved and much torn ovaries, 

 and the oviducal organs lacking the hinder portions. Of one of the oviducts, Garman 

 notes that it was "greatly distended, possibly with young that had hatched within it." 

 Further he says, in describing the nidamental gland, that ''The distended condition of the 

 oviduct is the only reason for supposing the eggs to be hatched before extrusion, after the 

 shells have been supplied." This conjecture was later proved to be correct. 



Rose (1895), as has been noted in the opening paragraph of this section, first made 

 known that the embryos are carried within the body of the mother. Collett's first speci- 

 men (1890), a young female, was eviscerated. However, his second fish (1897), also a 

 female, the largest but one ever taken, was in perfect condition but presumably not 

 gravid. Collett quotes Rose to the effect that Chlamydoselachus is viviparous, but it 

 seems very doubtful to us if his own specimen showed this. 



The man who first definitely and clearly demonstrated viviparity in Chlaynydo' 

 selachus was Nishikawa (1898). Here are his own words: '''Chlamydoselachus anguineus 

 is viviparous, and the breeding season is spring, extending from about the end of March to 

 the beginning of June." He gives a brief description of eggs in the blastula stage, and 

 specifically states that: "The youngest batch of embryos was obtained from a specimen 

 170 cm. long. . . . There were six embryos, 32, 35, 43, 48, 50, and 60 mm. long respec- 

 tively." Each embryo was attached to a large yolk-sac. 



As pointed out by Nishikawa, the siz;e of the egg in comparison with the si2;e of the 

 parent fish is remarkable. His photograph of a female fish and twelve or more large eggs, 

 presumably cut out from her body, was originally reproduced on unsuitable paper and is 

 therefore lacking in detail; but it is the only figure known to us showing in one view both 

 the adult female fish and its eggs, hence we have reproduced this poor half-tone as our 

 Text-figure 2. The main outlines of both fish and eggs have been retouched to make them 

 sufficiently clear to illustrate the impressive size of the eggs. Since the eggs are so 

 enormous they are necessarily few in number. Of his specimens Nishikawa says: 



The right oviduct [the only one he found fertile] is very much distended and contains 

 3-12 eggs, these numbers being the Hmits observed in seven specimens. The oviduct is only 

 60 cm. 123.6 in.] long, and one can imagine the degree of its distention when as many as twelve 

 eggs, each 11-12 cm. 14.3-4.7 in.) long, are contained in it. 



This is indeed remarkable when one compares the long slender body of the fish, of 

 nearly uniform size from shoulder-girdle to pelvic fins, with the broad bodies of ordinary 

 sharks which have large abdominal cavities. Where can room be found for these huge 

 eggs? Here note our Figure 5, plate I, of Bertrand's female specimen, which, because of its 

 full abdomen, we believe to have been gravid. Even larger in body-size is the female 

 Chlamydoselachus portrayed by Ito (1931) (our Text-figure 5). This fish has a greater 

 abdomen than any other female figured herein (and we have reproduced every original 

 figure known to us), even greater than Bertrand's. We presume that Ito had before him 

 an actual specimen, and we can only explain this distended abdomen as due to a large 



