Fishes of the Western North Atlantic i8i 



openings very close together; anterior marginal expansions of nostrils reach to mouth, but 

 are wide apart; teeth with several cusps, the central much the largest, and several rows 

 functional; lower labial furrow not continuous across chin; ist dorsal originates over or 

 slightly posterior to origin of pelvics; 2nd dorsal originates anterior to origin of anal; rear 

 tip of 2nd dorsal not reaching to origin of caudal; caudal Y^ to Yi of total length; cloaca 

 about midway between tip of snout and tip of caudal. Development ovoviviparous. Char- 

 acters otherwise those of the family. 



Range. Both sides of tropical and subtropical Atlantic; west coast of Mexico; western 

 tropical Pacific; Malaysia, Indian Ocean, Red Sea. 



Fossil Teeth. Upper Cretaceous, West Indies; Upper Cretaceous to Eocene, Europe; 

 Eocene, Africa and North America. 



Key to Species 



la. Corners of fins angular. jerrugineum "Ltsson, i% 2,0- 



Western tropical Pacific, Malay- 

 sia, Indian Ocean, Red Sea. 



lb. Corners of fins rounded. 



2a. Anal much smaller in area than 2nd dorsal ; nasal barbels reach to mouth. 



«rra/«OT Bonnaterre, 1788, p. l8l. 



2b. Anal nearly as large in area as 2nd dorsal; nasal barbels reach only about halfway 



to mouth. brevicaudatum Gnnthtr, 1866. 



Zanzibar, Seychelles. 



Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre), 1788 



Nurse Shark 



Figure 29 



Study Material. 14 specimens, 275 to 650 mm. long, from Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, 

 Sombrero I., West Indies, and Panama Bay (Harv. Mus. Comp. Zool.); 2 eggs (about 

 125 mm. by 63 mm.) and an embryo ( 1 25 mm. long with traces of external gills visible) 

 from Key West, Florida (Harv. Mus. Comp. Zool., No. 783 and 819) ; female, 936 mm. 

 long, from Key West, Florida (U.S. Bur. Fish., No. 13927); several specimens fresh 

 caught, as well as others at liberty, from southern Florida. 



Distinctive Characters. The "Nurse" is set apart from all other sharks of the western 

 Atlantic by the presence of a long barbel on the anterior margin of each nostril and of a 

 deep groove connecting the nostril with the mouth, together with the terminal position of 

 the latter. For characters distinguishing it from its several allies in the Indo-Pacific, see 

 the preceding Keys (pp. 179, 181). 



Description. Proportional dimensions in per cent of total length. Female, 650 mm., 

 from Cuba (Harv. Mus. Comp. Zool., No. 518). 



