Mr. A. Strickland on Squalus spinosus. 315 



Habexaria laevigata (A. § 2. b,) ; glaberri ma, laevigata^ caule 

 folioso, foliis lanceolatis canaliculatis acuminatis erectis 

 imbricatis, bracteis foliaceis acuminatis subspiralibus flo- 

 ribus longioribus, labelli tripartiti laciniis filiformibus ob- 

 tusis verruculosis ovario brevioribus intermedia longiore, 

 calcare filiformi longissimo. 

 Hab. ad Cap. B, Spei, inter Basche et Omtata, Drege, 



XXXVIII. — On the Occurrence of Squalus spinosus^ Linn., 

 on the Coast of Yorkshire. By Arthur Strickland, Esq. 



On the 11th of August 183ft, a large fish was brought on 

 shore at Burlington Quay, differing from any I had seen be- 

 fore, which had been caught that morning in a trawl net ; its 

 characters evidently bespoke it to belong to the shark tribe, 

 but differing in many respects from any of those usually met 

 with. Its whole length was 7|^ feet ; its girth in the largest 

 part (just behind the pectoral fin) was 3 feet 8 inches; its whole 

 surface was covered with a skin strikingly different from the 

 rough file-like surface of most of the shark tribe, being very 

 smooth and slimy ; but the upper part of the back was studded 

 over with sharp white spines hooking backwards, the largest 

 not above ^ of an inch long, but varying greatly in size. Each 

 spine was set upon a thin hard circular base about the size of 

 a fourpenny piece. In some instances two, and in a few, three 

 spines were clustered together, but were usually separate 

 about one inch asunder. I could not perceive that they were 

 placed in any order or pattern. These spines continued less 

 abundantly down the sides, and seemed to cease altogether as 

 they approached the belly, but were abundant upon all the 

 fins. A distinct lateral line commenced above the insertion 

 of the pectoral fin where it was slightly bent, and from thence 

 ran in a straight line to the tail, where it bent upwards, and 

 followed its course nearly to the extremity. The top of the 

 head was quite flat, ending in a blunt round snout, the space 

 between the eyes being somewhat more than that between the 

 eye and the end of the nose ; the eyes were large, and placed 

 in the projecting edge that overhung the mouth : nearly half- 

 way between the eye and the end of the nose were placed the 



