SQUALUS.] PISCES (CARTILAG.) PLAGIOSTOMI. 503 



branchial openings large, set nearer together as they are more behind; 

 the middle three larger than the others ; the last smallest, and placed 

 above the base of the pectoral : skin less rough, when rubbed from tail to 

 head, than in the S. Galeus; in the opposite direction perfectly smooth : 

 all the fins in shape and situation exactly the same as in that species ; 

 only the second dorsal relatively somewhat larger, while the projecting 

 lobe on the lower portion of the caudal is smaller. (Colours.) Upper 

 parts of a uniform pearl-gray ; paler, or almost white, beneath. 



Tolerably common on most parts of the coast. According to Mr. Couch, 

 ** keeps near the bottom, and feeds chiefly on crustaceous animals, which 

 its blunt teeth are well calculated to crush." 



(37.) S. Hinnulm, Blainv. Faun. Franc, p. 83. pi. 20. f. 2. Mustelus 

 stellatus, Riss. Hist. Nat. de 1'Eur. Merid. torn. in. p. 126. 

 L'Emissole tachetee de blanc, ou Lentillat, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. 

 p. 390. note (1). 



Length three feet. Farm almost the same as that of the last species ; 

 only the lateral line more distinctly marked. Colour brownish ash, with 

 a row of small whitish spots from the eye towards the first of the branchial 

 openings ; lateral line indistinctly spotted with white ; also a moderate 

 number of small scattered white spots between the lateral line and the 

 dorsal ridge. 



The above notes, made at Weymouth in Aug. 1832, relate to a species 

 of shark, not unfrequently captured on that coast, which appears to be 

 identical with the S. Hinnulus of Blainville. I have since seen a drawing 

 of a similar fish in the possession of Mr. Yarrell, to whom it was sent 

 by Mr. Couch of Cornwall. Not being aware at the time of the existence 

 of a second species of Musteius, and having had no opportunity of com- 

 paring a recent specimen with Blainville's description, I restrict myself 

 to this notice of the circumstance, without positively asserting the S. Hin- 

 nulus to be British. It is, however, a great question, whether this last be 

 any thing more than a variety of the S. Mustelus. As such it is considered 

 by the Prince of Musignano'in his Fauna Italica. 



(6. SELACHE, Cuv.) 

 193. S. maximus, Linn. ? (Basking Shark.) 



S. maximus, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 400. ? Home in Phil. 

 Trans. (1809.) p. 206. pi. 6. f. 1. Flem. Brit. An. p. 164. Bask- 

 ing Shark, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. HI. p. 101. pi. 13. Id. (Edit. 

 1812.) vol. in. p. 134. pi. 16. Low, Faun. Ore. p. 171. 



LENGTH. Thirty feet and upwards. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) Form rather slender: snout short, blunt, and 

 pierced full of small holes : mouth large : teeth small and numerous ; 

 (according to Low, in five or six rows ;) those before much bent, those 

 more remote in the jaws conic and sharp-pointed: eyes small: branchial 

 apertures five in number, large, reaching from the neck to the throat : 

 first dorsal very large, not directly in the middle, but rather nearer the 

 head : the second small, situate near the tail : pectorals (in a specimen 

 twenty- three feet long) nearly four feet: ventrals smaller, placed just 

 beneath the hind fin of the back : a small anal : tail very large ; (ac- 

 cording to Pennant,) the upper lobe remarkably longer than the lower ; 

 (according to Low,) the lobes equal in length, only the upper one some- 

 what broader and blunter than the lower: skin rough, like shagreen, 

 but less so on the belly than the back. PENN. and Low. The following 

 characters are added from Sir E. Home. " Nostrils opening on the edge 



