SQUATTXID.E. — XII. 19 



16. CARCHARODON Andrew Smith. (xapyapos, jagged ; 



68a>v, tooth.) 



21. C. carcharias (L.). Max-eater Shark. Great White 

 Shark. First dorsal somewhat behind pectorals. Color leaden- 

 gray, P. edged with black. L. 25 feet. Most voracious of all sharks, 

 and next in size to Cetorhinus, weighing nearly a ton. Warm seas. 

 occasional off our coasts. Linnasus says, " Jonam prophetam ut vete- 

 res Herculem, in hujus trinoctem ventriculo tridui spateo, ba^i-M' 

 verosimile est." The fossil teeth of a far larger extinct species, 

 Carcharodon megalodon, are often found in tertiary beds along our 

 South Atlantic coast. (Eu.) (Kap\apias, old name of large sharks.) 



Family XI. CETORHINID^J. (The Basking Sharks.) 



Largest of all fishes ; immense sharks with the gill openings ex- 

 tremely wide, nearly meeting above and below ; mouth moderate ; 

 teeth very small, numerous, conical, simple ; no nictitating mem- 

 brane ; spiracles very small ; first dorsal and pectorals large; sec- 

 ond and anal small ; caudal lunate, the upper lobe the larger ; tail 

 keeled on the side. One species, a huge, sluggish creature, found 

 in Northern seas. 



17. CETORHINUS Blainville. (k^tos, whale ; pivrj, a shark.) 



22. C. maximus (Gunner). Basking Shark. Head small, 

 snout blunt. Gray. L. 35 feet ; depth nearly G feet. Open 



S. to Va. (Eu.) 



Family XII. SQUATINID^E. (The Axgel-fishes.) 

 Ray-like sharks, with the body depressed, the pectoral fins very 

 large, expanded in the plane of the body, the anterior margin bear- 

 ing some resemblance to the bend of the wing in birds ; ventrals 

 very large ; dorsal fins two, small, subequal, behind ventrals ; cau- 

 dal small; no anal ; gill openings wide, subinferior, partly hidden 

 by base of pectoral; spiracles wide, crescent-shaped, behind eyes; 

 mouth and nostrils anterior ; teeth small, conical, pointed, distant. 

 A single species, in most seas. The singularly formed pectoral fins 

 give an absurd resemblance to the conventional pictures of angels. 



18. SQUATINA Dumeril. (Rhino Giinther.) (Latin name, 



from squalus, skate.) 



23. S. squatina (X.). Axgel-fish. Monk-fish. Skin rough, 

 witli small, stiff prickles; ashy gray above, usually much mottled. 

 L. 3 or 4 feet. Warm seas, rarely X. (Eu.) 



Order V. RAIJE. (The Pi ays.) 



The Rays, as a whole, differ from the sharks in having the 

 gill openings underneath the flat disk formed by the body and the 



