lyS Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



Alofias vulfinus Ogilby, Mem. Qd. Mus., 5, 1916: 74 (Aust.); McCulloch, Biol. Result. Fish. F. I. S. 

 "Endeavour," .; (4), 1 91 6: 170 (Aust.) ; Waite, Rec. S. Aust. Mus., 2, 1921: 18 (Aust.) ; Phillipps, N. Z. 

 J. Sci. Tech., 6, 1924: 265 (N. Zealand) ; McCulloch and Whitley, Mem. Qd. Mus., * (2), 1925: 128 

 (Aust.); Jordan and Hubbs, Mem. Carneg. Mus., 10, 1925: 10 (Japan); McCulloch, Fish. N. S. W., 

 1927: 8, pi. 2 (Aust., not seen); Phillipps, N. Z. Mar. Dept. Fish. Bull., I, 1927: 8 (N. Zealand) ; Mori, 

 J. Pan-Pacif. Res. Instn., 3, 1928: 3 (Korea) ; Fowler, Mem. Bishop Mus., 10, 1928: 18 (Hawaiian Is., 

 Fanning I.); Proc. Pan-Pacif. sci. Congr. Java, (4) j, 1930: 488 (distrib.) ; Hongkong Nat., /, 1930: 

 87 (Hong Kong, China, not seen) ; Phillipps, N. Z. J. Sci. Tech., 13, 1932: 226 (comp. with coudatus) ; 

 Coppleson, Med. J. Aust., April 15, 1933: 11 (Aust., not dangerous) ; Fowler, Bull. U.S. nat. Mus., 100 

 (75), 1941: 25 (descr., Indo-Pacif. distrib.). 



Alopas caudatus Phillipps, N. Z. J. Sci. Tech., 13, 1 932: 226 (descr., N. Zealand) ; Whitley, Fish. Aust., 7, 

 1940: 129 (N.Zealand, Aust.). 



Alopas gre-ji'^Mx^ey, Rec. Aust. Mus., 20 (l), 1937: 5 (diagn., Aust.) ; Fish. Aust., /, 1 940: 132 (Aust.). 



Family ORECTOLOBIDAE 

 Carpet Sharks, Nurse Sharks 



Characters. Two dorsal fins, the ist much shorter than the caudal, its origin over or 

 posterior to the pelvicsj caudal much less than V2 the total length, not lunate in form, its 

 lower anterior corner not expanded as a definite lobe, its axis but little raised} inner mar- 

 gins of pelvics posterior to cloaca either separated, or united for only a very short distance ; 

 caudal peduncle not greatly flattened dorso-ventrally or expanded laterally, without pre- 

 caudal pitsj sides of trunk anterior to anal with or without longitudinal ridges } snout not 

 elongate, nor jaws widely protrusible; 4th and 5th gill openings over base of pectoral; gill 

 arches without rakers and not interconnected by a sieve of modified denticles; nostril 

 connected with mouth by a deep groove, its anterior margin with a well developed fleshy 

 barbel or cirrus;^ spiracles present; lower eyelid without nictitating fold or membrane, 

 but orbit, in some, with a longitudinal fleshy fold above and below, inside the eyelids, but 

 entirely free from latter; a labial furrow on each jaw near the corner; teeth small, with 

 several cusps; head of normal form (not widely expanded) ; rostral cartilages either none, 

 I, or 3, but separate at tip and very small; mesopterygium of pectoral nearly as large as 

 metapterygium and with nearly as many radials; mesopterygia and metapterygia sepa- 

 rated by a foramen; heart valves in 2 rows. Development ovoviviparous in some {Bra- 

 chaelurus, Orectolobus, Ginglymostoma) , but oviparous in others {Chiloscyllium, Hemi- 

 scyllium, NehrodeSy Stegostoma), the horny egg capsules of which are attached to algae 

 either by terminal tendrils or by fibrous extensions of the margin.^ 



Genera. Most of the members of this large family of warm-water sharks are inhabit- 

 ants of the western Pacific, Australian region, or Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea; 

 only one genus {Ginglymostoma) occurs in the Atlantic. Many of them live on bottom in 

 shallow water, are brilliantly marked, especially when young (hence the common name 



1. This is the most striking characteristic of the family as a whole. 



2. For illustrations of the egg case of Chiloscyllium, see Southwell and Prashad (Rec. Indian Mus., 16, 1919: 222, 

 pi. 19, fig. 5) and Whitley (Fish. Aust., 1, 1940: 39, fig. 28, 4.) ; for Stegostoma (Zebra Shark) and Nebrodes 

 (Tawny Shark), see Whitley (Fish. Aust., /, 1940: 39, fig. 28, 5, 6). 



