FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 39 



south of Cape Cod. The only definite Gulf of Maine records for it, so far as we 

 can learn, are as follows: Off Seguin Island, Casco Bay, Provincetown, Cape 

 Cod, and Massachusetts Bay. We have not seen it. It has been netted in Vine- 

 yard Sound as late in the season as December, and occurs as far south as the Gulf 

 of Mexico. On the other hand it is known to wander as far north as Maine. 



Habits and food. — This shark is a more slender fish than the common mack- 

 erel shark — large, powerful, and swift-swimming, feeding upon small fish and 

 squid. Little is known of its habits, though what has been written of its relative, 

 /. punctatus, probably applies equally to /. iigris. Its breeding habits are not 

 known. 



Fig. 14. — White shark ( Carcharodon carckarias) 



13. White shark (Carcharodon carcharias Linnaeus) 



Man-eater shark 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 50. 

 Garman, 1913, p. 32. 



Description. — -The white shark is of the general "mackerel shark" appear- 

 ance, with firm lunate tail, the upper lobe only slightly longer than the lower, 

 triangular first dorsal of moderate size originating over the armpits of the pecto- 

 rals, which are sickle shaped, and roughly twice as long as broad. The second 

 dorsal and anal fins are very small, and the root of the tail bears a well-marked 

 keel on either side. The snout is pointed. Unfortunately there is no obvious 

 "field mark" to distinguish a small white shark from the common mackerel shark 

 when seen swimming, for while the former is the slimmer fish the difference in form 

 is not great. Once captured, however, no confusion could arise, for instead of the 

 slim catlike teeth of the porbeagle we find the man-eater best armed of all modern 

 sharks, its teeth large and triangular and similar in shape in the two jaws though 

 broadest in the upper, with nearly straight cutting edges and serrated margins. 

 As a precaution, however, any wry large, active shark, upwards of 18 feet (3 fathoms) 

 long, with the tail not long (out of ordinary proportions) should be looked upon 

 with suspicion — it might prove to be a man-eater. If it were sluggish, resting with 

 the dorsal fin high out of water, it would no doubt be a harmless basking shark 

 (p. 41). 



102274— 2ot 4 



