574 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 115 



the origin of the pelvic fin to a point over, or beyond (usually), the 

 middle of the pelvic base; distinct from all Carcharhinidae except 

 Aprionodon isodon, Carcharhinus oxyrhynchus, and C. temmincki in 

 having the origin of the pectoral fin below, or only slightly in advance 

 of, the level of the fifth gill-opening. Differing from most Carcharhi- 

 nidae in having the outer tip of the appressed pectoral fin over, or in 

 advance of, its inner corner and from all Carcharhinidae in having 

 both the tip and inner corner well in advance of the level of the origin 

 of the first dorsal fin. The origin of the second dorsal fin ranges from 

 above the posterior third of the anal base to over the anal axil. It is 

 usually over the posterior fifth of the anal base. 



A single common species distributed from the coasts of Japan and 

 southeast Asia to India and the Dutch East Indies, exclusive of New 

 Guinea, and absent also from Australia, the Philippines, and Oceania. 

 At the present time I know of no close relative to this genus among the 

 other carcharhinid genera. 



Scoliodon laticaudus Miiller and Henle 



Figures 2, 3; Plate 1b 



"Pala Sorra" Russell, 1803, Descriptions and figures of two hundred fishes . . . 

 Coromandel, vol. 1, p. 9, fig. 14 (a common name). 



Carcharias (Scoliodon) laticaudus Miiller and Henle, 1841, Systematische Beschrei- 

 bung der Plagiostomen, p. 28, pi. 8 (India). 



Carcharias (Physodon) mulleri Valenciennes in Miiller and Henle, 1841, ibid., p. 30, 

 pi. 19, fig. 1 (Bengal). 



Carcharias (Scoliodon) macrorchynchos Bleeker, 1852, Verh. Bataviaasch Gen., 

 vol. 24, p. 31, pi. 1, fig. 1 (Batavia, spelled macrorhynchos in other parts of the 

 paper and in subsequent literature). 



Carcharias palasorra Bleeker, 1853, Verh. Bataviaasch Gen., vol. 25, p. 9 (Coro- 

 mandel, based on "Pala Sorra" Russell, see discussion below). 



Diagnosis. — Distinctive characters are those of the genus (p. 568). 



Description (see also table 4). — Body vertebrae 97-112 (table 5), 

 centra not markedly elongate in posterior monospondylous region 

 (pi. 1b); caudal vertebrae 50-62, total vertebrae 148-171; teeth 

 smooth-edged, upper teeth 12-1-12 to 16-1-16; lower teeth 12-12 

 to 17-17 (higher, or lower, counts in upper and lower jaws correlated) ; 

 enlarged hyomandibular pores 0-5 on each side of head (rarely more 

 than 2; frequently difiicult to see). 



Denticles imbricate, 3-ridged and 3-toothed in young, 3- to 5-ridged 

 and 3- to 4-toothed in adults. 



Color of preserved specimens: Buff brown, purplish brown, or gray 

 brown, darker above, pale below; fins sometimes darker than body; 

 edges of fins at all sizes without dark margins except sometimes the 

 dorsal and distal edges of the upper caudal lobe; in adult males the 

 distal third of clasper abruptly paler than remainder. 



