The Sharks— Part Two 331 



in the tawny waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River and there 

 bring forth their young. 



Brackish waters, where the flow of the river mingles with the salt 

 of the sea, are a favored nursery for the Cub shark. It roams shoal 

 waters, loiters around wharves and docks, patrols passages between is- 

 lands, and explores estuaries that empty into the sea. The fisherman of 

 these parts who prefers the steady wharf to the rolling deck will catch 

 a Cub shark more often than any other species of shark. 



The Cub shark is believed to reach at least 10 feet in length and 

 may weigh up to 400 pounds. A slow swimmer that rarely shows itself 

 at the surface, it scavenges for most of its food, and will indiscriminately 

 take practically any offal that is tossed into the sea. When such effortlessly 

 obtained food is not available, however, the Cub shark will pursue prey, 

 which it can dispatch with the efficiency that is a Carcharhijiid hall- 

 mark. A Manta ray (Mobula) consumed by one captured Cub shark 

 had been bitten into five precise pieces. 



Attendants at the Miami Seaquarium on Key Biscayne, Florida, re- 

 gard Cub sharks as extremely savage— more so than any other species 

 on exhibition. One of the names it is known by in the Gulf of Mexico- 

 Requiem shark— is evidence of the long-held suspicion that the Cub 

 shark will attack men. The Cub shark's fresh-water form, the Lake 

 Nicaragua shark [Carcharhimis ?ncaragiiensis) is a notorious man-killer. 

 In Florida waters. Cub sharks have been suspected in many reported 

 attacks. They grow to 10 feet and about 400 pounds in weight, so there is 

 no question of their being able to practice the habit of anthropophagy. 



The Cub shark ranges the western Atlantic from southern Brazil to 

 North Carolina and occasionally as far north as New York. It is abun- 

 dant in the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico, and it is one of the most 

 numerous sharks in the waters off the Texas coast. 



Carcharhinus is only one of the genera in this big family. Here are 

 several other sharks which belong to other genera, but which are mem- 

 bers of the family Carcharhinidae. 



Lemon Shark 

 (Negaprion brevirostris Poey, 1868) 



The Lemon shark stays close to shore and occasionally pokes into 

 the mouths of rivers. Its favorite haunts are among the Florida Keys, on 

 the southern and southwestern coasts of Florida, where it is one of the 

 most common of the larger sharks, and up the west coast as far north 

 as Tampa and Pensacola. 



It is found, too, in the coastal waters of the western Atlantic, from 

 northern Brazil to North Carolina, and, as a stray, in New Jersey. It is 

 suspected— but not absolutely convicted— of attacks on bathers in Flor- 

 ida. It is known to grow to about 1 1 feet. 



