26 COPEIA 



tip of the snout. There were also two pale bands in 

 the mid-ventral region, one on either side of the me- 

 dian line; they were about two inches in width, and 

 had broken or jagged margins. They were confined 

 to a portion of the ventral region, in front of the mix- 

 opterygia. 



The most striking feature about the shark, to one 

 who had never seen the species in the flesh, was the 

 extraordinary shape of the rostrum. This was the 

 exact form of the lead end of a bullet, and so unlike 

 that of any other shark that it could serve as a diag- 

 nostic character equally with the enormous gill-clefts, 

 to distinguish this species from all other sharks. It 

 should be noted, too, that the rostrum was not short, 

 as it is represented in textbook figures, but projected 

 considerably in front of the mouth. 



The whole surface was covered with minute tu- 

 bercles, which were rough to the touch when the shark 

 was stroked from behind forward. The tubercles 

 were especially large at the tip of the rostrum. On 

 the snout, both above and below, were sensory pores 

 distributed in groups. They were transversely elon- 

 gated and very large, some of them X A inch in width. 

 The long, slender gill-rakers, which are so distinctive 

 of this species, were black in color, and looked like 

 long, finely toothed combs attached to the gill bars. 

 The longest rays were 2% inches in length. The teeth 

 were set in the jaws in three rows, except in a few 

 spots, where there were a few extra teeth giving the 

 appearance of four rows. 



The alimentary canal contained a large quantity 

 of bright red material. On examination under the 

 microscope, this resolved itself into a vast multitude 

 of minute Crustacea (species not yet determined), 

 whose reddish bodies lent color to the entire mass. 



A few measurements, especially of the head re- 

 gion, may here be given: Rostrum, from front of 



