The Sharks— Part One 321 



want of a better, more precise common name, the Amagansett shark was 

 dubbed the "Small-Toothed Nurse shark." 



Since 1883, fewer than a dozen of these odd sharks are known to 

 have been taken in the Atlantic. All catches have been strictly by chance. 

 One, for instance, was found in a pound net hauled up off Manasquan, 

 New Jersey. 



These rare Atlantic sharks are called today False Cat sharks (Psendo- 

 triakis microdot Brito Capello, 1867). A similar Pacific species (P. 

 acrages Jordan and Snyder, 1904) has also been found in Japanese 

 waters. 



Most of the False Cat sharks have been caught in deep water— one was 

 taken at a depth of nearly 5,000 feet. The assumption is that they are 

 rare, deep-water sharks, prowling the depths in a range that includes 

 at least Iceland (where three have been recorded) and the Cape Verde 

 Islands (where one was taken). 



Family Triakidae—SMOOTH Dogfishes 



The 30-odd species in this world-wide family are a kind of link be- 

 tween the Nurse and the Cat sharks and what are sometimes called the 

 Requiem sharks (Carcharhhiidae), which have achieved a development 

 higher up the shark spectrum. Triakidae, though usually small (5 feet 

 or less), have the bodily outline of the typical shark, but their teeth are 

 typically small, blunt, and pavement-like, as are the teeth of Nurse and 

 the Cat sharks. Some of the most abundant sharks on both the Atlantic 

 and the Pacific coasts of North America are members of this family. 



In the Atlantic, the Smooth dogfish {Miistelus canis Mitchell, 1815) 

 is second only to the Spiny dogfish {Sqiiahts acanthias) in abundance 

 along the southern New England and mid-Atlantic coasts. 



Someone once calculated that 10,000 Smooth dogfish could devour 

 60,000 lobsters, 200.000 crabs, and 70,000 other fish in a single year. If 

 10,000 Smooth dogfish were all the harassed fishermen had to contend 

 with, they would have no problem. Like the Spiny dogfish, however, 

 the Smooth dogfish can be counted in the millions. 



Around May 10th of each year, almost with the storied punctuality 

 of the swallows coming back to Capistrano, Smooth dogfish arrive at 

 the entrance of Long Island Sound. This is the beginning of a summer 

 sojourn along the coasts of New Jersey, New York, and southern New 

 England. Between early A4ay and mid-July, their young are born— hun- 

 gry Httle sharks 13 to 14 inches long. Many of these newborn are 

 scooped up in nets along the coast of southern New England. 



The Smooth dogfish embryo is nourished by a complex yolk-sac 

 placenta, a prenatal system close to that of man. The Smooth dogfish's 

 reproductive system, its intriguing sensory system, its small size (maxi- 



