404 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



Carcharhinus sfringeri (Bigelow and Schroeder), 1944 

 Figure 78 



Study Material. Female, 805 mm. in total length, from Cozumel, Mexico (U.S. 

 Nat. Mus., type. No. 37141) ; a somewhat shrivelled skin and head of a female, probably 

 this species, about 1,390 mm. in total length, from Englewood, Florida (Harv. Mus. 

 Comp. Zool., No. 35900). These are the only specimens of the species yet seen. 



Distinctive Characters. C. springeri most nearly resembles C. obscurus, with which it 

 agrees generally in the relative size and position of fins and the presence of a mid-dorsal 

 ridge. But it differs in a number of features from specimens of obscurus of approximately 

 the same size with which we have compared it; (a) its eye is considerably larger relative to 



Figure 78. Carcharhinus sfringeri, female, 805 mm. long, from Cozumel, Mexico (U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 No. 37141, type). A Anterior part of head from below, about 0.3 x. B Cross-section of back, midway be- 

 tween the two dorsal fins, to show the mid-dorsal ridge, slightly enlarged. C Left-hand nostril, about 1.6 x. 

 D Dermal denticles, about 18 x. £ Upper and lower teeth from right-hand side, about 1.4 x. F Fifth upper 

 tooth. G Seventh upper tooth. H Second lower tooth. / Ninth upper tooth. F-I, about 2.6 x. 



the lengths of the gill openings; (b) the anterior margin of its nostril is expanded as a low, 

 triangular lobe (not lobed in obscurus) ; (c) its first dorsal is relatively larger and more 

 erect, but with the free rear corner relatively shorter and the posterior margin less deeply 

 concave; (d) its second dorsal is larger in area but shorter (from origin to rear tip) rela- 

 tive to its vertical height; (e) the distance from the tips of the pelvics to the origin of the 

 anal is considerably shorter, i.e., about 0.7 of the anal base (1.3 times the anal base in obscu- 



