SHARK. 



657 



though not to such an extent as the spawners, it is a 

 seasonal fish, much less discursive in its every-day 

 habits ; consequently it does not stand in need of the 

 firm skin or the tough muscular fibres of those that 

 dash across the breadth of the ocean in quest of their 

 food. 



Specimens of five or six. feet in length are occa- 

 sionally taken on different parts of the coast, but in 

 general the fishes are smaller, as the. largest ones 

 keep much out at sea. In these there is a farther 

 resemblance between them and the rays. The teeth 

 of the young are without any very elevated points, 

 and thus not well adapted for swallowing a large 

 morsel ; but, as they increase in age, the posterior 

 angles of the teeth become more elevated ; so that, 

 while they were formerly fit only for bruising a 

 crust, they are now fit for swallowing a fish. The 

 colour of the upper parts and the iins is pearl grey, 

 and that of the under part dull yellowish white. 

 The very young ones have the portion above the 

 lateral line marked with numerous circular white 

 spots ; they become fainter and fewer as the fish 

 increase in size ; and in very large, and old ones, they 

 are nearly, if not altogether, obliterated. It is these 

 differences which have caused some to describe the 

 spotted one as one species, and the grey one, without 

 spots, as another. This fish is pretty generally dis- 

 tributed over the European seas. 



NOTIDAMUS. The species of this genus, of which 

 there are two in the Mediterranean, and some in the 

 Indian seas, are often termed " grey sharks " from 

 their colour, and they have sometimes been con- 

 founded with the smooth shark, which favour the 

 preceding genus. The generic name means " dry- 

 back," which is understood to have been the old 

 Greek name for a shark, but whether for these by 

 way of eminence, has not been ascertained. In 

 most respects they so much resemble the smooth 

 shark, that an enumeration of particulars is not 

 necessary. The chief ones are the absence of the 

 first dorsal in this genus, and a greater number of 

 gill-openings. They do not belong to the discursive 

 sharks, and have not, we believe, been found strag- 

 gling so far as the British isles. 



The two Mediterranean species are as follow : 



N. griscus. The grey shark, called also the low 

 shark. It has the muzzle depressed and rounded 

 like that of the white shark, triangular teeth in the 

 upper jaw, and serrated ones in the under. It has 

 also six gill-openings, whereas all those that have 

 been previously mentioned have five only. The 

 colour of the upper parts is ashen grey, and that of 

 the under parts whitish. 



N. cincreus. The pearl-grey shark. This one has 

 the muzzle very sharp pointed, as it is in the por- 

 beagle ; the teeth, both above and below, are like the 

 under teeth of the preceding species ; and there are 

 seven gill-openings of very large size. 



SELACHUS. This name was applied by the Greeks 

 to the whole of the cartilaginous fishes, and is sup- 

 posed to have alluded to the general uniformity of 

 the surface, which, not being broken by scales, shines 

 while the fish is moistened by its mucous applica- 

 tion ; and probably the reason why the sharks were 

 called a dry-back was [the roughness of their gra- 

 nulated covering. Be that as it may, the fishes of 

 this genus are very different in their dispositions from 

 the true sharks. The generic characters are : the 

 general shape of the body resembling that of the true 



NAT. HIST. VOL, III. 



sharks ; temporal air-holes ; gill-openings five upon 

 each side, and so very large that they almost sur- 

 round the neck ; they are placed wholly in front of 

 the pectorals ; the teeth small and conical, not ser- 

 rated in their edges or with lateral tubercles ; all the 

 fins present. There are probably more species than 

 one ; but the distinctions of them are not known. The 

 one which is known is 



The basking Shark (S. maximus). No fish deserves its 

 specific name better than this one ; for though, in as far 

 as accurate information goes, it is both maximus and 

 minimus in its own genus, it is maximus among the 

 whole of the fishes, being larger than any known in- 

 habitant of the deep, excepting the Cetacea. It is a 

 fish of the more northerly parts of the Atlantic, 

 although not exactly of the polar ones ; but it ranges 

 to considerable distances, and occasionally finds its 

 way as far to the north as the Bay of Biscay. On 

 the western coasts, especially among the Hebrides 

 and toward the north-west of Shetland, it is a common 

 fish in the summer months ; but it goes out to sea in 

 the winter. It swims high in the water, so as to 

 display the dorsal fin which is of considerable size, 

 and as the fish does not tumble along like the por- 

 poise, but swims smoothly, and at times remains bask- 

 ing in the same spot as if it were becalmed, it has 

 got the name of the " sail fish." In sailing or rowing 

 about among the western isles in the summer months, 

 where such an occupation is so very pleasant, one is 

 never long without seeing the fin, and sometimes a 

 portion of the back of the fish rising over the water. 

 It is also as mild and unsuspecting as it is conspi- 

 cuous ; so that, if it is basking, one may row close to 

 it, and even touch it, nay wound it, if the wound is 

 not severe, without its apparently taking much heed 

 of what is going on. If, however, this wound is deep 

 and severe, the fish is instantly roused, and dashes off 

 with so much velocity that, if the wound is inflicted 

 by a harpoon, those in the boat must stand clear of 

 the line, and be careful of the boat itself, as, if it is an 

 ordinary skiff, it is liable to be upset. The fiesh of it 

 is not eaten ; but the liver yields so much oil, that a 

 large fish is a prize to the captors. Any thing equal 

 to or exceeding thirty feet in length is accounted a 

 large fish ; but there are accounts of sdme reaching 

 little less than forty. 



Though this fish makes its appearance regularly 

 and in numbers on the coasts that have been alluded 

 to, and though there are few parts of the British 

 coasts where it is not occasionally to be met with, yet 

 very little is known of its feeding or its manners. It 

 does not appear to follow any of the shoaling fish for 

 the purpose of feeding on them ; and therefore it has 

 been supposed to feed chiefly on the floating mol- 

 lusea and on Crustacea. It is ovoviviparous ; but the 

 rate of its productiveness has not been well ascer- 

 tained. The colours are : clouded brown and blue 

 on the upper part, and bluish-white on the belly ; the 

 bod}' is spindle-shaped, thickest at nearly the middle 

 of the length ; the head is conical ; the muzzle rather 

 blunt and very short; the opening of the mouth much 

 more nearly in the plane of the body, and the jaws 

 much more nearly of equal length than in the more 

 ferocious members of the family ; the eyes are situ- 

 ated near the snout ; they are small, of a brown 

 colour, and longer in their horizontal diameter than 

 in the vertical ; the nostrils are lateral, there being 

 very little projecting snout for them to be placed 

 under ; the pectoral fins of moderate size ; and the 

 Tf 



