NO. 3539 HAMMERHEAD SHARKS — GILBERT 21 



aussi bien plus prfes de la caudale. L'espfece k large tete, donnde, sous le 

 nom de pantouflier." Description based on figure in Bloch, 1785; no type 

 specimen; no type locality.) 



Zygaena latycephala van Hasselt, 1823, p. 315. (Originally written Latycephala; 

 type locality, Java. 



Zygaena laticeps Cantor, 1837, p. 315. (Original description; based on adult 

 specimen of S. blochi; type locality, Calcutta.) 



Zygana laticeps Swainson, 1838, p. 134. (Illustration of head; generic name mis- 

 spelling of Zygaena.) 



Sphyrna blochii Mliller and Henle, 1841, p. 54. (Locality unknown.) 



Sphyrnias blochii Gray, 1851, p. 50. (India; Singapore.) 



Eusphyra blochii Gill, 1861, pp. 403, 412. (Name; new generic name.) 



Cestracion (Zygaena) blochii Dumeril, 1865, p. 383. (Indian Ocean.) 



Sphyrna zygaena (misidentification) Bridge, 1904, p. 450. (Figure.) 



Zygaena blochi Volz, 1907, p. 237. (Benkulen, Sumatra.) 



Sphyrna blochi Pellegrin, 1912, p. 2. (Singapore.) 



Cestracion blochii Garman, 1913, pp. 156-157. (Synonymy; description; range.) 



Cestracion blochi Hora, 1924, p. 464. (Tale Sap, Siam.) 



Sphyrna {Eusphyra) blochii McCuUoch and Whitley, 1925, p. 129. (Reference.) 



Specimens examined. — (Range in size: 333-880 mm. TL). Pacific 

 Ocean: British North Borneo: SU 13815 (1), no further data; 

 FMNH 21836 (1), Sandakan. Burma: SU 14495 (1), FMNH 40914 

 (1), Southern Moscos gi'oup, South Island. India: SU 41989 (1), 

 Krusadai Island, Gulf of Mannar, Pumbau District, Madras; USNM 

 195846 (2), ANSP 69397 (1), Bombay. Java: FMNH 15655 (1), 

 FMNH 15656 (1), UMMZ 177111 (6), MCZ 1389 (1 mutilated head), 

 Batavia. Malaya: BMNH 1902.5.28.37 (1), coast of Perak; BMNH 

 1860.3.19.890 (2), Singapore. 



Nomenclature. — Although Sphyrna blochii, in common with the 

 other hammerheads, has been placed in several different genera, 

 Eusphyra is the only genus which has been erected (Gill, 1861, p. 412) 

 for the sole reception of this species. GiU considered that two unique 

 morphological features of blochii (the position of the nares, which are 

 nearer the tip of the rostrum than the eyes, and the extreme elongation 

 of the lateral extensions of the head) constituted sufficient reason for 

 placing the species in a distinct genus. There has been some differ- 

 ence of opinion among recent investigators as to whether Eusphyra 

 should be regarded as a good genus. In some of the most important 

 recent works (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1948; Tortonese, 1950a) this 

 classification has been followed, but in an even greater number of 

 cases it has been considered a subgenus of Sphyrna. For reasons that 

 are discussed elsewhere in this paper, I follow the latter alternative. 



Diagnosis. — See diagnosis of subgenus Eusphyra. 



Description. — Meristic data appear in table 2. Characters men- 

 tioned in the diagnosis of the subgenus Eusphyra are not repeated 

 here. A comparison of *S^. blochii with other members of the genus is 

 presented in table 1 . 



