FISHES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND ADJACENT SEAS 279 



anterior portion of the anal instead of originating almost over the 

 middle of that fin." 



Order SQUATINAE 



Mouth wide, anterior or terminally inferior, or entirely inferior. 

 Snout sometimes extended into a "saw." Vertebrae with calcareous 

 lamellae ranged in several concentric series or rings about central 

 axis. Gill openings before pectoral. Dorsal fins small, posterior. 

 Pectorals sometimes modified into lateral expansions. 



Two widely divergent families, the angel sharks and the saw sharks, 

 constitute this order. They graduate toward the skates. The saw 

 sharks form an almost perfectly connected link between the sharks 

 and the sawfishes. 



ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES 



a'. Snout greatly produced in long bladelike saw, with sharp teeth on edges and 

 with barbels Pristiophoridae 



a". Snout short, obtuse ; mouth anterior, terminal ; pectorals produced, free from 

 head Squatinidae. 



Family PRISTIOPHORIDAE 



Body long. Head greatly depressed. Snout produced in long flat 

 blade, edge of each with series of sharp teeth suggestive of Pristis; 

 barbel below each side of blade some distance before nostrils. Eyes 

 superior, elongate, directed laterally; no nictitating membranes. 

 Mouth inferior, behind eyes. Rudimentary labial fold at angles of 

 lower jaws. Teeth small, numerous, number of series in function at 

 once. Nostrils inferior, valve conspicuous. Gill openings lateral, 

 before pectoral. Spiracles rather large, behind eye. Scales fine, 

 smooth. Dorsals well developed, first above body, second above tail, 

 spineless. No anal. Tail with dermal fold at lower edge of each 

 side. Subcaudal reduced, separated from tip by notch and supra- 

 caudal broader backward. Pectoral rather long. 



A small group of sharks, greatly resembling the sawfishes but of 

 smaller size, with their gill openings lateral and the saw furnished 

 with a pair of tentacles. Indo-Pacific. Known from fossils in the 

 Cretaceous and Tertiary, 



ANALYSIS OF GENERA 



a\ Gill openings 5 Pristiophorus 



a^ Gill openings 6 Pliotrema 



Genus PRISTIOPHORUS Miiller and Henle 



Pristiophorus Muixer and Henle, Sitz. Ber. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1837, p. 116. 

 (Atypic. Type, Pristis cin-atus Latham) ; Arch. Naturg., pt. 1, p. 399. 1837. 

 (Type, Pristis cirratus Latham, mouotypic.) 

 156861 — 41 19 



