Fishes of the JVestern North Atlantic 25 



from Galveston, Texas (Ilarv. Mus. Comp. Zool., No. 36960). Male, 1,396 mm, from 

 Galveston, Texas (Harv. Mus. Comp. Zool., No. 36659). 



Breadth: between outer corners of pectorals 26.5, 26.6. 



Snout length: in front of orbits 27.4, 25.4; in front of mouth 31.2, 28.9. 



Orbits: horizontal diameter 1.9, 1.8; distance between 4.9, 4.7. 



Spiracles: length 1.9, 1.6; distance between 4.0, 4.2. 



Mouth: breadth 5.4, 5.1. 



Nostrils: distance between inner ends 2.2, 2.0. 



Gill openings: lengths, ist 1.5, 1.6; 3rd 1.6, 1.7; 5th 1.2, i.i ; distance between 

 inner ends, ist 9.8, lo.i; 5th 7.2, 7.4. 



First dorsal fin: vertical height 6.8, 6.8; length of base 7.0, 7.1. 



Second dorsal fin: vertical height 6.8, 7.6; length of base 6.0, 6.4. 



Caudal fin: upper anterior margin 15.0, 15.0; lower anterior margin 8.7, 8.7. 



Pelvics: anterior margin 7.2, 7.5. 



Distance from tip of snout to: ist dorsal 58.9, 55.8; pelvics 58.8, 55.3; center 



of cloaca 62.0, 59.6; from center of cloaca to lower caudal 24.9, 26.5. 



Trunk tapering nearly evenly rearward from level of axils of pectorals; flattened 

 below; its height a little less than its width at origin of first dorsal where highest; its 

 breadth at origin of pectorals between ^4 and Vs as great as its length from base of saw 

 to origin of caudal ; a low fleshy ridge low down along either side from about opposite 

 origin of second dorsal to opposite anterior part of caudal axis. Pectorals with nearly 

 straight margins, narrowly rounded outer corners, and slightly blunted posterior cor- 

 ners, their anterior margins about as long as distal margins and directed outward 

 much less abruptly from sides of head than in P. perotteti (cf. Fig. 3 with 5). Extreme 

 width across pectorals about equal to distance from mouth to level of rear corners of 

 pectorals, therefore considerably less, relatively, than in P. perotteti (p. 36). Caudal 

 peduncle, at upper origin of caudal, about 1.5 times as wide as deep. 



Minute dermal denticles closely covering skin everywhere (a shark-like character); 

 those on upper surface of trunk and fins blunt ovate, varying in size one to the next, 

 averaging smallest on outer parts of fins and on head anterior to eyes; blades nearly 

 horizontal so that skin is only slightly rough to the touch; pedicels low. Denticles on 

 lower surface smaller, varying considerably in size and in shape from roughly circular 

 to blunt ovate or subpolygonal with rounded corners; without definite pedicels; so 

 closely crowded that skin is visible only here and there; and lying so flat as to be 

 smoother to the touch than those on upper surface. Denticles along midzone of saw of 

 about same size as those on lower surface of trunk, but those along its edges con- 

 siderably larger; extreme margin of saw naked in newborn specimens but completely 

 covered with denticles by the time a length of about 1,400 mm or so is reached, if 

 not sooner. 



Saw about V4 of total length in grown specimens; about Vt-Vs as wide at base 

 as long, narrowing evenly forward to only a little more than half (about 0.6) as wide 



