The Sharks— Fart One 303 



mother's body. In the next stage of their development, the embryos are 

 nourished by their yolk-sacs and by the nutritive fluid that surrounds 

 them in the mother's oviduct. After the yolk is absorbed, they apparently 

 continue their prenatal feeding in a bizarre way. As they lie free in the 

 oviduct, they devour the unfertilized eggs that are near them. As many 

 as 10 well-fed young are born at a time. 



Like all shark pups, the Mako young are fully formed when they 

 begin their life in the sea. Because some well-meaning but inaccurate 

 observer ages ago saw the birth of Makos and did not understand what 

 he saw, he started the myth that the mother Mako shark protects her 

 young by letting them swim into her body when danger approaches. The 

 story has persisted to this day, and it is just as ridiculous now as it was 

 when it began. As a matter of fact, if new-born Makos know what's 

 good for them, they'll swim away from their ravenous mother as fast 

 as they can, for Mako mothers have been known to eat their young. 



/. oxyrinchus is pelagic in the tropical and warm-temperate waters 

 of both the northern and the southern Atlantic. It is also found in the 

 Mediterranean. In summer, many migrate northward along the con- 

 tinental shelf as far as southern New England, and sometimes New- 

 foundland. /. glaucus is found off southern California, Japan, Hawaii, 

 Australia, and New Zealand. 



Mackerel Sharks 



{Lamna 7iasus ^onn^Lttxvt^ 1788) 



(Lanma ditropis Hubbs and Follett, 1947) 



The Mackerel shark also contributes generously to the pool of name 

 confusion that many sharks swim in. In England it is called the Porbeagle, 

 a word possibly coined from the por of porpoise^ and beagle, an old 

 English word for small dog. In the Gulf of Maine, where it is abundant, 

 L. nasus is known as a Blue shark, because of its bluish-gray upper 

 coloring, which changes abruptly to white below. The Alackerel is 

 often— and erroneously— called a Mako, for it somewhat resembles one 

 and is a swift swimmer. 



But its accepted common name. Mackerel shark, is fitting, for it 

 pursues and catches these fast-swimming fish. It is usually to be found 

 following the migrations of the mackerel. 



Fast, sleek, and growing to about 12 feet, the Mackerel shark is 

 generally considered to be dangerous, though no positive indictment 

 of man-eating has been lodged against it. In South Africa it is looked 

 upon as a good shark to keep away from. A similar Australian species, 

 also known as Mackerel or Porbeagle, is likewise regarded as dangerous. 



3 Porpoise, itself, is a corruption of Parens Piscis (fat fish) . 



