52 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 
2 small cusps at base, and edges entire. Gill-openings rather 
large, all.in front of pectorals. Spiracles minute, pore-like. Two 
dorsals, moderate and subequal. Anal similar. First dorsal 
well behind pectorals. Caudal with notch towards its tip. No 
caudal keel. Pectorals rather short. 
Voracious sharks of moderate size chiefly of the Atlantic. 
Represented by a single genus and species on our coast. 
Genus CARCHARIAS Rafinesque. 
The Sand Sharks. 
Carcharias littoralis (Mitchill). 
Sand Shark. Shark. Shovel Nose Shark. 
Head rather broad and blunt. Tip of snout nearly 3 times 
in advance of anterior margin of orbit as posterior margin of 
orbit is anterior to angle of mouth. Snout pointed and pro- 
truding. Margin of upper jaw somewhat distinctly defined but 
not prominently. Teeth with a single cusp on either side, but 
I occasionally’ wanting. First tooth of both jaws smaller than 
adjoining ones. In upper jaw on each side 2 very lony teeth, 
following, and at either side of these another pair somewhat 
smaller than 2 teeth increase somewhat in length and the re- 
mainder gradually decrease. In lower jaw teeth decrease gradu- 
ally from first pair. Nostrils well forward, near extremity of 
upper jaw. First dorsal in advance of ventrals a space equal to 
about half length of base of first dorsal. Caudal rather short and 
broad. Length 8 feet 9 inches. Beesley’s Point. ( Abbott. ) 
Although I have never seen any New Jersey examples it has 
been reported to me from Stone Harbor. Possibly the shovel 
nose shark of the fishermen is this species. 
Dr. Dahlgren believes there may prove to be two forms of 
this species, one ranging but several feet in length and the other 
large. He has seen examples in the New York Aquarium from 
the New Jersey coast. 
Carcharias littoralis Moore, Bull. U. S. F. Com., XII, 1892, 
p. 358. 
