658 



SHARK, 



first dorsal, notwithstanding its sail-like appearance, 

 not large, considering the size of the fish ; all the 

 other fins are well formed, but not large ; the caudal 

 forked, with the two lobes divergent, and nearly equal 

 in length ; the tail near the base of the caudal keeled 

 laterally, and grooved on the upper and under sides. 



Perfectly harmless as this huge fish is to man, and 

 apparently to every thing in the sea upon which man 

 sets a value, it is a subject of very great alarm when 

 it appears upon a part of the coast where it is but 

 little known. It is a shark in name, which appears to 

 be sufficient ground for investing it with all the 

 terrors of the tyrant of the sea. We "have known 

 instances where the rumoured invasion of a shark put 

 all the people in motion, and the timid were appre- 

 hensive that the " monster, whose terrible fin could 

 be seen from the beach, would swallow men, boats, 

 and all." But the more adventurous who embarked 

 to avert the destruction rowed close up to the fish, 

 soon despatched it and towed it to the beach, where, 

 after the liver was abstracted, the spoils of the porten- 

 tous spoiler remained there, testifying to more senses 

 than one how well the natives could defend themselves 

 against invasions of sharks. There might have been 

 another prop to their prowess ; for at that particular 

 time they were girt with weapons against another 

 kind of invasions in which the eye of reason saw 

 about as much real danger as even that by the bask- 

 ing shark. 



CBSTRACIONUS. Of this genus only a single spe- 

 cies is known. It is a native of the Australian seas. 

 In its characters it appears to be intermediate between 

 Mustelus and Spinax, having teeth like a pavement 

 in common with the first, and a spine in the anterior 

 part of each dorsal like the second. Nothing is 

 known of this genus that could in the least interest 

 the reader. 



SPINAX. This is a genus with which we are better 

 acquainted, as there is one species which is not only 

 common, but exceedingly numerous on some parts of 

 the British shores. The characters of the genus, in 

 brief, are : the body elongated ; two dorsal fins with 

 a strong spine in front of each, united to the edge of 

 the fin at the base ; no anal fins ; temporal orifices ; 

 the teeth in 'several rows, small, and with cutting 

 edges ; the gill-openings small, close together, and all 

 in advance of the pectorals. The British species, and 

 indeed the only species which is very well known so 

 as to be interesting to the general reader, is 



The Piked Dog-fish (S. acanthias). This is the 

 Scotch name of the fish, the English one on those 

 parts of the coast where it is most abundant, being 

 the " bone-dog," which is also in allusion to the spines. 

 " Pyked" is the proper pronunciation of the epithet, 

 and though this is from the same radical word as 

 " pick," yet the senses in which they are now used 

 are not the same ; and thus even Mr. Yarrell, fol- 

 lowing the false orthography of some one else, has 

 spelled the name " picked," which, as we use it, 

 means " selected," whereas, if he had just left out the 

 c, and written " piked," there would have been no need 

 of telling that " pike means pike." 



This fish is much more abundant on the British 

 coasts than any of the other Squalidce; and in the 

 northern parts where the genus Scyllium is hardly 

 known even now, it has been the " dog-fish," and the 

 " sea-dog," time out of mind. 



It is a small fish compared with many others of the 

 family, but it is a very bold and active one, and well 



organised both for swimming and for using its-teeth. 

 The length of what are usually considered full-grown 

 ones is about three feet; but the majority that appear 

 are smaller. The general shape of the body is not 

 unlike that of the tape ; but there is an expression of 

 greater vigour about it. The head is flat with the 

 temporal orifices large and upwards ; the snout pro- 

 duced, but rather blunt; the nostrils pierced in the 

 under part ; the gape wide for the size of the fish, and 

 opening to a circle as in the sharks ; the teeth point- 

 ing outward on each side, and with sharp cutting 

 edges ; the eyes lateral, the horizontal diameter the 

 longest; the pectoral fins large, triangular, convex 

 before, concave behind ; the ventrals much smaller, 

 and the anal entirely wanting ; the two dorsals divide 

 the entire length from the snout to the tail very 

 nearly into three equal parts ; these last fins sloping 

 backwards, and slightly convex in their anterior mar- 

 gins, rounded at the tips, concave backwards, with a 

 narrow lobe at the base of each ; the spines in front 

 of the dorsals strong and very sharp-pointed, the 

 first rather more than half the height of the fins, the 

 second the whole height ; the upper and under lobes 

 of the caudal forming a rounded terminal fin, but with 

 a triangular lobe of the under one opposite to about 

 the anterior half of the upper ; the upper part and 

 also the fins slate-grey, the under parts yellowish- 

 white ; the skin rough when the hand is passed for- 

 ward over it ; the fins granulated and used for polish- 

 ing wood, as are the fins of many of the family, the 

 "grain" on them being finer than that on the body. 



There is, we believe, scarcely any part of the coun- 

 try where the flesh of the dog-fish is eaten in the 

 recent state ; and there are few fishes which the 

 fishermen are less fond of seeing in numbers on the 

 fishing-grounds. The numbers in which they appear 

 are almost incredible. They are on the coast early 

 in the season, and they remain till it is late, so that 

 they attack all the more valuable fishes when they 

 shoal toward the land. From the tendency which 

 they have to associate in immense packs they are 

 seldom found along the whole line of the coast, but 

 they alarm the fish, and drive them from the grounds. 

 Their bite is powerful and their gape wide, arid 

 thus they swallow and mangle va*t numbers. It is 

 also understood that they get below the fish and 

 wound them with their dorsal spines. The command 

 which they have over these weapons is very great ; 

 they can work them with the whole muscular power 

 of the body, and strike with wonderful rapidity and 

 certainty. It is not safe to tamper with them after 

 they are taken, for, like all the rest of the family, they 

 are very tenacious of life; and, when lying apparently 

 lifeless, they will start into action and inflict wounds 

 with the spines. 



Besides the injury which they do the fishers in 

 driving the fish from the grounds, they watch the 

 lines and cut off such fish as are caught ; so that even 

 after the lines have been filled, a large pack of sea- 

 dogs coming on the ground will leave the owners to 

 draw them in empty and bookless. Mr. Couch men- 

 tions that he has heard of twenty thousand being 

 taken in the sean at one time, among which, how- 

 ever, there must have been a great number of young 

 ones. The livers afford a good deal of oil ; and in 

 those northerly places where the people depend so 

 much on the sea for their subsistence, and the sea is 

 in a great measure inaccessible or unprofitable in the 

 winter, their flesh is salted and dried. It is rather 



