io6 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



presence, at least as a stray, has been proved recently at Bermuda by the capture of typical 

 specimens, in 1927 and 1942.^' It apparently has a second center of occurrence on the 

 coast of Brazil, since Sand Sharks, seemingly identical with the northern taurus, are plenti- 

 ful in October and November near Rio de Janeiro, where many are placed for sale in the 

 market} they are recorded as far south as the Rio Grande do Sul. But it is not yet possible to 

 define the boundaries of this southern population, owing to the uncertainty of identity 

 (whether taurus or plaiensis) of the nominal records from Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. 

 Nor does any explanation suggest itself for the apparent discontinuity between the areas 

 of distribution of the North Atlantic and South Atlantic populations. 



On the east coast of Florida C. taurus is taken irregularly at all seasons. From 

 South Carolina northward, however, it has been reported only during the warm half 

 of the year. Thus, at Charleston, South Carolina, it is reported for summer only; off 

 North Carolina it may appear from late April on through the spring and equally early in 

 the season at the mouth of Delaware Bay, as in 1921, when eight were taken at Cape May 

 on April 21. However, May 27 appears to be the earliest recorded date for it on Long 

 Island at Orient, with its season of maximum abundance extending from June into early 

 October all along the coast from New York to Cape Cod. It withdraws from the neigh- 

 borhood of New York in autumn, when the temperature of the water falls below about 

 67° F. (19-20° C), and departs from the coasts of southern New England and New 

 Jersey by November at the latest. 



The winter home of the Sand Sharks that summer along the northeastern United 

 States is not known. No increase in their numbers in autumn or early winter has been noted 

 along North Carolina or Florida, coincident with their disappearance from the North. 

 Like various bony fishes, it is possible that they move offshore, and possibly southward, 

 to escape winter chilling. 



Synonyms and References: 



Carcharias taurus Rafinesque, Caratt. Gen. Nuov. Sicil., 1810: 10, pi. 14, fig. I ; Indice Ittiol. Sicil., 1810: 45 

 (type loc, Sicily) ; Garman, Mem. Harv. Mus. comp. Zool., 36, 1913: 25, pi. 6, fig. I-3, pi. 4.I, pi. 51, 

 fig. 7 (descr.) ; Radcliffe, Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc, 1914: 35; Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish., 34, 1916: 244, pi. 

 38, fig. I, 2 (N. Carolina, teeth) ; Nichols and Murphy, Brooklyn Mus. Sci. Bull., i (l), 1916: 21, pi. 2 

 (occur.) ; Fowler, Copeia, 30, 1916: 36; Copeia, 31, igi6: 41 (N. Jersey) ; Copeia, 35, 1916: 69 (Long 

 Island, N. York) ; Jordan, Copeia, 29, 1916: 281 (name) ; Smith, Amer. Mus. J., 16, 1916: 347 (gen- 

 eral) ; Thome, Copeia, 35, 1916: 69 (N. York); Fowler, Proc. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 55, 191 7: no 

 (Nantucket, Woods Hole, Massachusetts) ; Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad., 6g, 1 91 7: 1 08 (N. Jersey, size) ; 

 Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich., 56, 1918: 15 (Virginia); Copeia, 68, 1919: 13 (N. Jersey); Proc. 

 biol. Soc. Wash., 32, 1919: 72 (Delaware R.) ; Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad., yi, 1919: 292 (N. Jersey); 

 Roule, Result. Camp. sci. Monaco, 52, 1919: 1 16 (St. Lucia L, C. Verde); Fowler, Proc. biol. Soc. 

 Wash., 55, 1920: 143 (N. Jersey) ; Sherwood, Copeia, loO, 1921 : 77 (Connecticut, large size) ; Fowler, 

 Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad., ^2, 1921: 385 (N. Jersey, small size); Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad., 74, 

 1922: 2, 5, 7 (N. Jersey, Delaware); Breder, Bull. N. Y. zool. Soc, 25, 1922: 137 (in aquarium); 

 Huntsman, Contr. Canad. Biol. (1921), j, 1922: 8 (St. Andrews, New Brunswick); Linton, Proc. U.S. 

 nat. Mus. 64, 1924: 13, 14 (parasites) ; Breder, Copeia, 127, 1924: 27 (Sandy Hook Bay, New York, and 

 New Jersey) ; Barnard, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 21 (i), 1925:36 (Medit. and Cape Seas) ; Bigelow and Welsh, 

 Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish., 40 (l), 1925: 34 (descr., food. Gulf of Maine) ; Fowler, Copeia, 143, 1925: 41, 



26. Personal communication from Louis Mowbray, director of the Bermuda Aquarium. 



