62 BECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



common in New South Wales, T. proximus is, on the other hand, 

 comparatively rare. Owing, however, to the very limited number 

 of observations made upon the Australian Typhlopida, it would 

 at present be extremely unwise to hazard many remarks upon 

 their distribution. 



DESCRIPTION OF a NEW SHARK from the TASMANIAN 



COAST. 



By J. Douglas Ogilby. 



Cextrina bruniensis, sp. nov. 



Centrina bruniensis, Morton {in lit.) 



Body oblong, with the back and sides rounded, and the belly 

 flattened. Head small and stiongly depressed, its breadth equal 

 to the distance between the tip of the snout and the spiracle : 

 snout short and obtuse, the distance between its tip and the 

 nearest point of the mouth less tlian that between the same and 

 the anterior margin of the eye. Nostrils equidistant from the eye 

 and the extremity of the snout. Eye large, with a strong bony 

 supraorljital ridge, situated midway between the tip of the snout 

 and the anterior gill-opening. Spiracles large, opening behind the 

 upper half of the eye, with a moderate intervening space. Mouth 

 small and transverse, with the lateral groove very broad and 

 deep. Upper jaw with a patch of small, conical, curved teeth 

 anteriorly, consisting of about four irregular rows ; a single 

 series of much larger, erect, compressed, minutely serrated, scalp- 

 riform teeth in the lower jaw. Gill-openings small, the posterior 

 one pierced immediately in front of the base of the pectoral tin. 

 The first dorsal commences above the middle gill-opening, and 

 rises by a continuous and equal gradation to the spine, its outer 

 margin Vx^ing straight ; behind the spine the rise is much more 

 abrupt, and the contour is slightly convex with the tip rounded ; 

 the posterior margin is deeply concave ; the height of the fin 

 beneath its extremity is equal to the distance between the anterior 

 gill-opening and the tip of the snout, that of the spine equal to 

 the head in front of the spiracle ; the spine is situated in the 

 anterior portion of the last fourth of the base of the fin, is perfectly 



