1135 



is frequently taken. In Liini Fjord n speeiinen was 

 caught 1>}' I'^K.DDKR.SEN off Struer in tlx^ sninnier of 1S7(). 

 A female 15 dia. long was taken off Skmntneslof (Hal- 

 land) in November, 1881, and forwarded to the Iioyal 

 Jluseum b^- Mr. A. v. Moij.ei!. Anotlici-, not nmch 

 iiiferioi' in size, was secured in the north of the Sound 

 during .biniiar\', 1835, and was described by Sundevall 

 in the former edition of the present work. It is other- 

 wise usual that only young Tope are met with near 

 land and enter the Sound (KiioYEK and Nilssox), pe- 

 netrating to the shallows round Salthoini (Winther). 

 Older individuals genei'ally confine themselves, except 

 during the breeding season, to deeper \\ater. Their 

 haunts are soon learnt by the tisherniaii, wiio finds the 

 snoods of iiis Haddock-lines torn off, and perliajjs hauls 

 in a Tope that has eventually been hooked, and in its 

 despei-ate struggles has twisted the line round its body, 

 in the same manner and with the same result as we 

 have just rehited of the Blue Shark. A Tope 13 dm. 

 long, wliich iiad been forwarded from Bohuslan to tiie 

 Royal Museum, had in its stomach two Haddocks about 

 4 dm. long, each with a hook and a bit of the snood 

 in the mouth. The great strength of the Tope appears 

 from a statement made by two fishermen who were 

 out fishing for Ling in September, 1887, about seven 

 luiles off Langesund. In 10 fathoms of water a Tope 

 seized the bait, and the line being strong, lie towed 

 the boat beiiind liim for lialf an hour. The fish was 

 a metre long and weighed 55 kilo. 



In summer, from June till September, the Tope 



gives birtii to its young, al)out '20 — 40 lieiiig excluded 

 from tiic tt'uialc at a time, and tlicse ali'eady about 

 4 dm. long. Througii the winter the joung stay near 

 the coast, while the old retire to deep water, and ac- 

 cording to ^'.MiKEi.L tiiey reacli their full si/e the fol- 

 lowing year; but no j)recise information on this head 

 is forthcoming. Couch says that on the English coast 

 they are about 5 dm. long in January; but a Tope of 

 this size was taken off the coast of Bohusliln by Mr. 

 C. A. Haxssux in Seplembi'r. 



The Tope does more harm than good to the fisher- 

 man. The oil extracted from its liver and the fine 

 shagreen prepared from its skin liardh- compensate 

 the damage it causes. Its flesh is ])Oor, but in spite 

 of this it is eaten in many places. At th(! Diinish flshing- 

 villages, according to Kkuyeh, it is boiled fresh, or 

 dried and sold in this condition at the markets of 

 Northern Jutland. According to ^Iokeai' it also finds 

 consumers in the French departments l)ordering on the 

 English Channel. 



The Swedish name of Mstdrje {hd, /(ay'= Shark) is 

 derived, according to Sundevall, either from the re- 

 semblance of the head to that of the Sturgeon (storen) 

 or from the size of the fish {sfor = great, large), Swe- 

 dish fishermen meaning by hd or haj, when used with- 

 out qualification, the Picked Dog-fish. Similarly they 

 call the Tunny Mctkrilsfdrje (Great Mackerel). The 

 name of hefhaj (Bait-Shark) is conferred upon it in 

 Bohuslan for its habit of stri]iping the long-lines and 

 Haddock-lines of the bait. 



Fam. LAMNlDiE. 



7^7) (hirsal tins and one anal, the first dorsal opposite to the spaec befiree)i the peetoral and central _fins. Eyes 

 iiitlioiit nietitating membrane. Spiracles obliterated or mi)Nife. All the branchial apertures situated in front of 



the pectoral fns". 



This family too contains large, not to saj' the , as that of the preceding family or even more so; 



largest Sharks, and has the same pelagic distribution 

 iis the preceding one, but is not so ricli in forms. Gux- 

 THER includes in his Catcdogue only 9 ascertained spe- 



othcrs — among them the largest Sharks — live on mi- 

 nute animals, and have extremely small teeth in pro- 

 portion to the size of the body. These differences led 



cies. Most of these are characterized by large — one Guxther to divide the family into two subfamilies, 

 genus by exceedingly large — gill-openings. Some are | which are represented in the Scandinavian fauna by 

 formidable predatory fishes, with dentition as powerful 1 the following three species: 



" The last-mentioned character is adduced as being generally valid and distinct, and especially serviceable in cases where the presence 

 or absence of a nictitating membrane cannot be controlled. Yet it liappens, as in the Fox-Shark, that the character may easily lead to a 

 misconception, tlie hindmost gUl-opening approximating its lower end close to the beginning of the base of the pectoral fin, and being di- 

 rected, as well as the penultimate opening, obliquely backwards and upwards above the said base. 



Scandinavian riahes. 143 



