6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. us 



undersurface white" (Breuer, 1954, p. 29). After preservation, the 

 embryo is brownish rather than bluish grey, but with the dermal 

 ridges dusky. Adults have been described as being variously dark 

 grey to reddish or greenish brown above and white or yellow below. 

 The color pattern of small spots and narrow transverse bars on the 

 embryo (pis. 1-2) is remarkably similar to that of adults. 



Vertebrae. — Radiographs of the embryo whale shark show 

 vertebral centra very clearly in the body region and the anterior 

 four-fifths of the tail. The centra are widely spaced, presumably 

 from incomplete calcification. In the body region anterior to the level 

 of the origin of the upper caudal lobe, there are 81 vertebrae, while 

 posteriorly on the caudal axis there are 72 countable vertebrae. 

 The total number of caudal vertebrae is probably much higher, but 

 those in the terminal fifth of the caudal axis are calcified or developed 

 insufficiently to show on the radiographs. 



