584 TEN YEAKS IN SWEDEN. 



2. A spine in front of each dorsal. 

 Gen. SpinaXj Bon. 



Teeth a"bove awl shaped,, with a point on each side of the 

 root ; below flat, with the point directed backwards. 



171. SPINAX NIGER, Bon. Bla Kexa. D. 



No anal fin ; nose blunt, with the nostrils under the 

 side edges of the point; blue-grey above, below black ; 

 body covered with fine ciliated points. This is the 

 smallest of all our sharks; usual length 1 ft. The 

 largest specimen noticed by Nilsson was 18 in. 

 Is never taken in the Sound or south of the Cattegat, 

 but is not rare off the Bohus Land " Skargard," and the 

 deeps of the Norwegian coast. 



There appears to be very little difference between this 

 species and the spinax acanthias, Flem., picked dog fish of 

 the British coasts, but as Nilsson remarks, strange to say, 

 this spinax niger is never met with in the British seas ; we 

 must, therefore, conclude it to be a distinct species. It is, 

 however, common in the Mediterranean. 



Gen. Acanthias, Bp. 



Teeth in both jaws, with the point turned obliquely back, 

 forming a saw above and below. 



172. ACANTHIAS VULGAEIS, Eiss. Vanlig Pigg Haj. The 



Picked Dog Fish. D. F. 



Fins like the last, but there is a difference in the 

 teeth, the shape of the nose, and the position of the 

 nostrils, which lie between the point of the nose and 

 the mouth; colour brown-grey above, below white; 

 length 2 to 3 ft. 



That this is the picked dog fish of British authors there 

 appears to be no doubt, although the length given by Nils- 

 son is double that given by Yarrell or Jenyns. 



Is the commonest of all the sharks off" these coasts, and 

 is even occasionally taken in the Baltic. In the Sound they 

 are principally caught in winter. It is generally met with 



