SQUALUS.] PISCES (CARTILAG.) PLAGIOSTOMI. 501 



on the coast of Cornwall it is not uncommon. It appears to be the same 

 as the S. Selanonus of Leach. Is ovoviviparous. Hunts its prey (accord- 

 ing to Mr. Couch) in companies, from which circumstance it has received 

 its common name. Obs. Authors do not agree in all the characters which 

 they assign to this species, but it is probable that some of these, especially 

 the number of rows of teeth, may vary with age. 



190. S. Monensis, Shaw. (Beaumaris Shark.) 



S. Monensis, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. y. part ii. p. 350. S. Cornu- 

 bicus, /3, Gmel. Linn. torn. i. part iii. p. 1497. Turt. Brit. Faun. 

 p. 113. Beaumaris Shark, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. in. p. 118. 

 pi. 17. Id. (Edit. 1812.) vol. in. p. 154. pi. 20. Le Beaumaris, 

 Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 389. note (2). 



LENGTH. Seven to nine and a half feet. DAV. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) " Snout and body of a cylindrical form: greatest 

 circumference (in a specimen seven feet long) four feet eight inches: 

 nose blunt: nostrils small: mouth armed with three rows of slender 

 teeth, flatted on each side, very sharp, and furnished at the base with two 

 sharp processes ; the teeth are fixed to the jaws by certain muscles, and 

 are liable to be raised or depressed at pleasure : first dorsal two feet eight 

 inches distant from the snout, of a triangular form : second dorsal very 

 small, and placed near the tail: pectorals strong and large: ventrals 

 and anal small : the space between the second dorsal and the tail much 

 depressed, the sides forming an acute angle; above and below a trans- 

 verse fossule or dent: tail crescent-shaped, but the horns of unequal 

 lengths; the upper, one foot ten inches; the lower, one foot one inch: 

 skin comparatively smooth, being far less rough than that of the lesser 

 species of this genus. (Colour.) The whole fish lead-colour." DAV. 



No one appears to have met with this species excepting Mr. Davies, 

 who communicated to Pennant, by whom it was first published, a drawing 

 and description of one taken near Beaumaris. In the last edition of the 

 "British Zoology," there are some further particulars by Mr. Davies, 

 including an account of a second individual stranded near Bangor Ferry, 

 on the Anglesea side of the Menai, in June 1811. This last differed from 

 the former specimen in having the nose smaller (though itself a larger 

 fish), and more abruptly tapering. It was a female, and contained in its 

 belly four young ones, each about twenty-eight or thirty inches long. 

 Obs. By Gmelin and Turton, this -species is made a variety of the last, 

 from which it scarcely seems to differ, excepting in its blunt snout. 

 Donovan and Fleming regard them as the same fish. Further ob- 

 servation alone can determine whether either of these opinions is 

 correct. 



(4. GALEUS, Cuv.) 



191. S. GaleuS) Linn. (Common Tope.) 



S. Galeus, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 399. Block, Ichth. pi. 118. 

 Turt. Brit. Faun. p. 112. Blainv. Faun. Frang. p. 85. Canis 

 Galeus, Will Hist. Pise. p. 51. tab. B. 6. f. 1. Galeus vulgaris, 

 Flem. Brit. An. p. 165. Tope, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. in. p. 111. 

 Id. (Edit. 1812.) vol. in. p. 146. but not pi. 18. Le Milandre, 

 Cuv. Reg. An. torn. 11. p. 389. 

 LENGTH. From three to five feet. 



DESCRIPT. (Form) Body fusiform, elongated : head moderately large, 

 depressed, behind the eyes broad, but narrowing anteriorly ; snout pro- 



