SHARK. 



051 



trils near the mouth, and continued by a groove to 

 the upper lip, thereby forming a sort of valves; the 

 teelh of the prehensile description only, without any 

 of the serrated or lacerating ones, but with sharp 

 points and a tubercle at each side of the base ; the 

 gill-openings five on each side, the last ones opening 

 over the pectoral fin ; the first dorsal rising on the 

 mesial line about half-way between the snout and 

 the extremity of the tail, and in rear of the ventral 

 fins, the second dorsal in rear of the anal, the caudal 

 narrow at the tips, and the principal lobe on the 

 under side of the tail. The males with claspers to 

 the ventral fins, as is general in the family, but the 

 females without these appendages. 



The fishes of this genus, and indeed those of the 

 greater number in the family, are social at certain 

 times of the year, and pursue their prey in packs. 

 They are found chiefly near the rocky shores where 

 there is sea-weed. They are more common on the 

 warmer shores than on those of Britain, and on the 

 south coasts of England than on those of Scotland. 

 They are oviparous, and deposit their eggs in small 

 numbers at intervals among the aquatic plants. Their 

 flesh is little esteemed, and thus they have small in- 

 terest in the eyes of any persons but naturalists. 



In treating of the shark family, and indeed of most 

 of the cartilaginous fishes, it is necessary to use some 

 caution, and not speak too particularly about the size. 

 There are differences, no doubt, in the average sizes 

 of the different species, and very great differences ; 

 but there does not appear to be any thing positively 

 to limit either the size or the duration of any of the 

 family, as their bones do not become indurated ; and 

 thus there seems no reason why their enlargement 

 should cease altogether. This precaution is, how- 

 ever, necessary in a general point of view only ; for 

 of course we may allude to the size either of the 

 largest or the average as met with in any particular 

 locality. There are three species of the genus found 

 on the British shores, one very plentifully in some 

 places, another much more rarely, and the third is 

 very rare, or, which amounts to the same, it is rarely 

 seen. They are all called dog-fish ; but none of 

 them is the dog-fish so plentifully found in the north- 

 ern parts of the British seas. Wherever they come, 

 they get very little thanks for their appearance ; for 

 they are of no value themselves, and they are so 

 voracious that they drive the more valuable fishes off 

 the grounds, and so strong that they are apt to break 

 the nets. Where there is fishing with lines, they are 

 apt to plunder the hooks. 



Small spotted Dog-fah (S. canicula). This is the 

 one which is most common on the British shores, 

 especially those of the channel ; but, as Mr. Yarrell 

 justly observes, it is not very easy to decide whether 

 the comparative " small " should be applied to the 

 fish or the spots. Cuvier calls it the " large " one, 

 and the other the small ; in this he follows the other 

 continental naturalists, and the comparative size can 

 be much better judged of in the Mediterranean than 

 in our seas. The snout of this one is much shorter 

 than that of the other ; but the body and tail are 

 longer in proportion to the thickness. The ground 

 colour of the upper part is reddish, mottled with red- 

 dish-brown spots of a shade considerably darker, and 

 the spots on the fins larger than those on the body ; 

 and the ground colour passes gradually into white on 

 the lower parts of the sides and the belly, the middle 

 of which is without any spot ; but there are spots on 



the lower fins, though not so numerous as on the 

 upper ones. There is a sort of " grain " or granula- 

 tion on the skin, but the tubercles which form it are 

 very minute and inclined backwards, so that the 

 roughness cannot be felt if the finger is moved in the 

 same direction as the points slope. 



Large-spotted Dog-Jish (S. catulus}. This appears 

 to be about the same size as the former ; but the 

 spots are much larger and more conspicuous, and 

 they are of two colours, the larger ones nearly black, 

 and the smaller ones paler than the ground, which 

 in the upper part is not so red as in the other species. 

 The snout is larger and more pointed. This species 

 is much more rare than the former. 



Black mouthed Dog-fish (S. melanostomum). This 

 is common enough in the warmer seas, but exceed- 

 ingly rare on the British shores. It is a more hand- 

 some fish in the colour of the body than either of the 

 other two ; and the head is more tapering and the 

 snout more elongated. The upper part is brown 

 with darker spots, surrounded by margins of lighter, 

 and also variously clouded. The inside of the gape 

 is black, hence the name. Mr. Yarrell is the first who 

 has noticed it as a British fish, on the correct infor- 

 mation of Mr. Couch. 



There are several more species of this genus men- 

 tioned ; but they, or indeed the ones that we have 

 noted, are not of much interest to a general reader. 



CARCHARIAS (Sharks properly so called). The 

 generic characters of these are : the jaws and head 

 depressed ; the nostrils near the point of the snout ; 

 the teeth pointed and trenchant, often toothed in the 

 edges in the manner described ; first dorsal and pec- 

 toral fins large, the dorsal behind the pectorals, but 

 before the ventrals ; the second dorsal much smaller ; 

 the caudal varying so much in the different species 

 as not to form any part of the generic character. 



This is the genus, some of the species of which are 

 so much dreaded, and dreaded with so much reason, 

 in the warmer seas, though the more formidable of 

 them rarely, if ever, visit so high latitudes as those 

 of Britain. The species are so very numerous, that 

 the details of them would extend to a very great 

 length. All that we can do, therefore, is to notice 

 one or two of those which have the best authenti- 

 cated history. 



We must premise, however, that though the arch- 

 destroyer of all the sharks has been mentioned by 

 the writers on British fishes as having occurred some- 

 times on the one part of the coast, and sometimes on 

 the other, yet the fact of its having actually done so 

 is not yet clearly established. The tremendous pow- 

 ers of " the white" shark, and the fearful effects of 

 them in those seas in which it abounds, have become, 

 as it were, the story of all sharks ; and when the ap- 

 pearance of a shark is rumoured on any part of the 

 coast, the rumour is very apt to become the whole 

 history of the white shark, before it travels half its 

 round ; and some one is generally found ready enough 

 to record the romance along with the reality. That 

 the white shark may have been in the British seas, 

 we do not mean positively to deny, for the powers 

 of the animal are quite adequate to carry it into any 

 sea, or fairly round the earth : all that we contend 

 for is, that up to the present time there is no direct 

 and conclusive evidence of its so appearing. We 

 must, therefore, give our short notice of this formi- 

 dable species as an inhabitant of other seas, in which 

 it is seen but too frequently. 



