148 Commercial Shark Fishing in the Caribbean Area 



Figure 56 



Family Rhinidae, Angel Fish. Five gill openings, all in front 

 of the origins of the pectorals; two dorsal fins without spines; no 

 anal fin; the trunk very much flattened from above and below but 

 expanded sidewise, with the front margins of the pectorals spread- 

 ing so far forward that they extend beyond the region of the gill 

 openings and largely conceal the latter; the mouth is at tht. front 

 margin of the head and there is no definite snout ; the eyes are on 

 the upper surface of the head. 



Genus Rhnia, Angel Fish. Characters are as given above for the 

 family. Two species of this genus are known to occur on the 

 Atlantic coast of the Americas, the one (R. dumeril) from the east 

 coasr of the United States and reported also from Jamaica (Figure 

 56) ; the other (R. argcntina) from northern Argentina, lrom 

 Uruguay and from southern Brazil north as far as Rio de Janeiro, 

 if not further. They are so unlike other sharks in appearance that 

 there should be no difficulty in recognizing at least the genus to 

 which it belongs it one should be taken. They are not plentiful 

 enough in the West Indian-Caribbean region to be of any com- 

 mercial importance, although they are more common farther south. 

 They are most apt to be encountered in shoal water on the bottom 

 where they often bury themselves partially in the sand or mud 

 while lying in wait for the smaller fishes that are their chief diet. 



