2904 



SHARKS AND RAYS 



is well developed. In its varied coloration this fish differs markedly from the 

 majority of sharks, being ornamented with buff spots and stripes upon a dark 

 ground. Although probably widely distributed within the Tropics, this monster 

 has hitherto been met with but locally. For many years the sole evidence of its 

 existence rested upon a specimen fifteen feet long, brought ashore in Table bay in 

 April, 1828, which fell into the hands of the late Sir Andrew Smith, who described 



I,BSSER SPOTTED DOGFISH AND ITS EGGS 

 (One-fourth natural size.) 



and figured it. This specimen was preserved by a French taxidermist, who sold it 

 to the Paris Museum, where it still remains. Forty years later, in 1868, Dr. Per- 

 ceval Wright, while staying at the Seychelles, met with this shark, and obtained 

 the first authentic information about it. It does not seem to be rare in that archi- 

 pelago, but is very seldom obtained on account of its large size and the difficulties 

 attending its capture. Dr. Wright saw specimens which exceeded fifty feet in 

 length, and one that was actually measured proved to be more than forty-five feet 



