FISH 



SELACEA SQUALOIDEA 



(Sharks) 



The species we most commonly met in the Red Sea were the 

 Carcharinus melanopterus (black-fin shark) and the Carcharinus 

 albimarginatus (white-fin shark) . The biggest specimen I ever 

 came across was almost certainly Carcharinus limbatus (grey 

 shark) measuring more than nine feet long. The average 

 length was around five feet. In addition we found the harm- 

 less nurse shark {Ginglymostoma cirratum). 



On two occasions only did I notice among the sharks we 

 caught female specimens of the species Carcharinus melanopterus 

 in an advanced state of gestation. In the first instance it was 

 an adult about six feet long with four offspring, each measur- 

 ing a foot and a half. In the second instance the shark was 

 about three feet long and it was carrying three offspring 

 about ten inches long. 



A lucky meeting with two specimens of Rhineodon typus, the 

 whale shark, gave us the chance of observing this uncommon 

 selacean mastodont, the biggest fish in the seas, at close 

 quarters. The biggest of the two was more than thirty feet 

 long. Our four metre boat cut a wretched figure beside it. 



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