184 



EXPEDITION OE THE "ALBATROSS," 1899-1900. 



bottom characters of all the "Challenger" stations in the Pacific where 

 sharks' teeth and Cetacean bones were obtained. At various other stations 

 not included in this list, on the run from Hawaii to Peru, a few small teeth 

 and otoliths of indeterminable fishes were brought up. Otoliths, on account 

 of their dense structure and different chemical composition, are less readily 

 destructible than other bones of the fish skeleton. Only in three or four 

 instances were any fish bones, other than otoliths and teeth, observed in all 

 the deposits brought to light by the " Challenger." 



List of " Challenger " Stations in the Pacific yielding Sharks' Teeth and Cetacean Bones. 



Synopsis of the Genera and Species represented in tiie Collection. 



Of the rather over two hundred sharks' teeth dredged by the " Alba- 

 tross," by far the greater number belong to the Lamnidse, the only other 

 family represented being that of the Carchariidae. The five genera to 

 which these teeth are referable with certainty may be arranged in order 

 of their numerical abundance as follows: Oxyrhina, Lamna, Carcliarodon, 

 Carcharias, and Hemipristis. As already observed, the absence of the root 

 and lateral denticles (in all cases where such were present) are serious 

 obstacles to the precise identification of species, since the form and serra- 

 tion of the crown alone are not sufficiently distinctive characters. With 



