284 liVRMA, im PEOPLE AXD PPODCCTJOXS. 



a. O'ill openiiuj^ hifcnil. 

 Family Carchariidse. 



A nictit iting mcmhraue to tlie cyo. Mouth cresccntir, iutVnor. 



CHAECHARirs, MuUer and ILnlc 



Xo spiracles. A pit before the root of the tail. Suout produced. Teeth with a 

 sharp compressed cusp. 



a. Teeth ivith minoth edges and wilhuul sivulleu bases. 

 C. LATicAUDUs, Mull. aiid Heulo. 



The groove at the gape scarcely extends on to the upper jaw. Nostrils very mufh 

 nearer the mouth than the end of the snout. Uniform grey above, white beneath. 

 Pectoral deep-grey, white-edged, as are the ventral and anal fins. Caudal dark- 

 tipped. Grows to 2 feet. 



b. leeth wifh smooth edges, oblique, and without swollen bases. 

 C. "WALisEEUiiir, Bleeker. 

 Ei-dah. Andamans. 



A well-marked groove at the gape, extending a short distance along both jaws. 

 From snout to mouth equals the space between the outer margins of the nostrils. 

 Light brown above, dull white below. 



The Andamans. 



c. Some or all the teeth serrated on their base and eus2]s. 

 C. Gaxgeticus, Miill. and Ileule. 



A very slight groove at the gape. Xostrils in advance of midway between the 

 snout and the mouth. Teeth 27 to 30 in either jaw. Pectorals falciform, and reach- 

 ing to the middle of the first dorsal. Colour much as in C. latieaudus. Grows to 

 7 feet, and is reputed to be one of the most ferocious of Indian sharks. 



C. MELANoriEEUs, Quoy et Gaim. 



A very short groove at the gape. Snout rounded and very obtuse. Pectoral fin 

 falciform, its outer edge three times as long as its inner and reaching to the middle 

 (or more) of the base of the dorsal. Second dorsal opposite and .similar to the anal. 

 Scales large, lineated, and with entire edges. Brown or bluish grey above, white 

 below. Teeth 24 to 2.5 in each jaw. 



The Andamans. 



Dr. Day does not give the size attained by this fish, but adds that the liver of 

 one captured at Calicat weighed 270lbs. According to Dr. Buist (Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 Lond., 1850, p. 100), the shark fishers at Kurachi employed 13 boats each with a crew 

 of 12 men. The 'Mhor' or 'Great basking shark' is said to grow to from 40 to 60 

 feet in length and to be taken by the harpoon when asleep on the surface. When 

 exhausted by its struggles, the fish is hauled up and despatched or stunned by blows 

 with clubs, and is then towed on shore, several boats uniting for the pui-pose when 

 an unusually largo fish is captured. They are also taken in nets with G inch meshes, 

 six feet wide and often nearly a mile in length. These nets are buoyed vertically, 

 and sunk some 80 to 150 feet below the surface. The smaller sharks are usually 

 brought up dead, and the larger ones much exhausted. On being brought on shore 

 the fins are cut oU' and dried in the sun (Dr. Buist .says only the back fins, but 

 elsewhere I believe all the fins are taken), the flesh cut off in strips and salted, and 

 tlie liver carefully extracted for oil. In 1845, ov(^r 229 tons of sharks' fins were 

 imported into limidiay from various ports, and over 443 tons exported, chiefly to 

 China, valued at i;i8,231. 



