1167 



Gknis acanthorhinus. 



Tct'tJi of flio upper jaw co>iiial, car'nidfeil mi tlic aiitcriar surface, and set in several siwaUaneoiisI;/ fanetionaJ 

 transverse roics. Teeth of the lon'er Jair olillqueli/ shaped ineisars, set in several transverse rrnvs, of vliicli the 

 foremost tiro or three are sinudtaneoKsli/ erect and set close togetlier. Length of the snout about the same from 

 the ei/es as from the mouth. Lenr/th of the caudal fn at the upper edr/e less than ^/^ of the lene/th of the hodji. 



Of this genus two species iiave Ijeeii (lescrihi'd, (.me 

 of wliicli, lioweN'er, Acanthorhinus rostratus. from the 

 MediteiTaneaii and the Atlantic outside, is extremely 

 little known, and lias been founded on characters that 

 seem rather uncertain. Tiie name of the genus was 

 coined by Blaixville, who in 181G conferred it upon 

 all the Sharks witliout anal tin", with especial reference, 

 it is true, to the Picked Dog-fish, but also enumerating 

 among the species our Greenland Shark. Subsequently 

 the genus lias received several names, which must be 

 rejected, liowever, for different reasons. In 1817 Cuvier 

 included the Greenland Shark in the subgenus Sci/mnus 



{les Leiches). from which it was afterwards removed 

 on account of the dentition. Lesuei'H (1818) gave the 

 genus the name of Sonwiosus, a translation of the 

 Sleeper, as tlie Greenland Shark is called by American 

 fishermen. In 1841 .Mllleu and Henle bestowed 

 U])on it the name of La'marf/us, which Kroyek had 

 conferred sliortly ])efore (1837) on a genus of crus- 

 taceans. Tile oldest available name is Blainville's, 

 and as it cannot Ix- applied to either of the two pre- 

 ceding genera, both of which have earlier names, its 

 employment here is fully justifiable. 



THE GREENLAND SHARK (sw. hakaringen ok haskardi.ngen). 

 ACANTHOKHLXUS CAKCHAHIAS. 



Plate LII, tig. 3. 



Skin rather sparsely shagreened with thorn-like (conical) spines, in an unworn state pointed, tvith grooved base and 



arcuatehj recurved tip. Length of the snout cdtout * , of the postorbital length of the head or more. Greatest 



depth of the body about 15 — 17 ,%, its least depth (just in front of the caudal fin) about 5' ,„ — 4 %, of its length. 



Coloration brown or black, sliading on the sides into violet; iris blue, pupil green. 



Fig. 342. Upper (a) and lower (i) jaw-teeth of a Greenland Sliark (Acantliorliimis can-hnrias) 3", ni. long, nat. size; c, d. and e. tl.ree 

 dermal spines (scales) of ditferent forni from tlie same individual as a and h. magnified. 



V/)i. Hay, Egede, Gronl. Perlustr., p. 49. Canis marinus, Canis 

 Carcharias, Crantz, Gronl. Hint. {ed. suec.), lib. II, rap. 2, 



§ 14. Haae-Kkrring. Strom, Siindm. Beskriv., p. 284. 

 Iluakall. Olafs., Reis. hi., pp. 359, 597. 839. 



" Rafinesque liad indeed collected all these Sharks into one genus CDatatias) previously {Car. Ale. A'. Geti., Spec, p. 10): but he 

 liaracterized them by the absence of spiracles, and besides he was not acquainted with any species of the present genus. 



147 



Scandinmian Fishe, 



