THE IMPENETRABLE SEA 



selected as typical of the Elasmobranchii (the sharks most 

 nearly resembling bony fish), lay their eggs in capsules 

 or cases of horny material, within which the embryos are 

 protected. The dogfishes are spread over most of the 

 temperate and tropical seas. They lay oblong eggs. At 

 each corner of the tgg a long thread is attached, and 

 these serve to fasten the eggs to fixed objects. Those of 

 some of the tropical species are beautifully ornamented 

 and coloured. The two British species of the dogfish shark 

 — the lesser and the larger spotted dogfish — belong to the 

 most common fishes around our coasts, and are often 

 confused with each other. The latter (which may attain 

 a length of four feet) may be identified by its larger 

 rounded spots, which are merely dots in the lesser kind. 



During the mating season, the males and females of 

 the viviparous sharks seek each other and approach the 

 coasts, in pairs, forgetting their ferocity for a time. The 

 eggs are hatched at intervals in the female's oviducts ; 

 and the little ones issue two or three at a time. As soon 

 as it is born the shark becomes the scourge of the sea. 

 It eats all kinds of molluscs and fishes, cod-fish, flounders, 

 cuttle-fish — almost anything that swims or crawls in the 

 sea. Yet if it has been feeding well for a time it will dis- 

 criminate. Sometimes, if hungry, it will eat the carcasses 

 of men and sea-creatures — at other times it will spurn 

 them. 



Some writers insist that sharks discriminate regarding 

 human food, preferring white to yellow men and both 

 to the negro. Whatever their tastes in the under-waters — 

 where they may or may not attack divers — they cer- 

 tainly make ferocious attacks on any humans when they 

 meet them on the surface. They will follow ships for 

 miles, greedily swallowing any food thrown to them or 

 dumped overboard, and immediately attack any persons 

 who fall into the sea. They have been known to leap into 

 boats when attacking fishermen, and one account 

 describes how a shark hurled itself into the air and 



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