New York, August 2-i. 1915. No. 21 



ora 



Published to advance the Scie?ice of cold-blooded vertebrates 



THE CAPTURE OF A BASKING SHARK 



OX LONG ISLAND. 



A fourteen-foot Basking shark, Cetorkinus max- 

 imus, was captured on June 29, 1915, at Westhamp- 

 ton Beach, on the south shore of Long Island. It 

 had become entangled in a bluefish net operated by 

 a local fisherman, and was hauled ashore still alive. 

 I had the good fortune to examine it two days later 

 as it was being cut up for removal from the beach, 

 and obtained the head, jaws and several other parts 

 for the American Museum for further study. 



Records of Cetorkinus as far south as Long Is- 

 land are extremely few, so that it seems desirable to 

 call attention to the present specimen. 



The shark was a male, fourteen feet in length. 

 The caudal had been cut off before I reached the 

 scene, so that I could not verify the exact length; but, 

 from the measurements I made, the length was ap- 

 parently as stated. The specimen was therefore small 

 for this species, not even half grown. 



The color of the shark was grayish black, a little 

 darker above than on the sides and belly. The under 

 side was not white, as it is stated to be in textbooks; 

 the only white about the specimen was a triangular 

 patch on the under side of the rostrum, extending 

 from the mouth as a base, to a point half-way to the 



