538 FISHES. 



The sterlet indeed, in Russia, makes its appearance chiefly at the 

 entertainments of the higher nobility ; and the caviare, prepared 

 from its roe, is said to be confined, almost exclusively, to the use of 

 the royal table. 



Like the rest of this genus, it is a prolific fish, and usually spawns 

 in the mouths of May and June : it is said to live on worms and 

 small fishes, and is particularly fond of the roe of the common 

 sturgeon, for which reason, it often follows that species in its mi- 

 grations. [Shaw. 



SECTION XVII. 



Large Shark. 

 Squalus corcharias. Linn*. 



The animals of the shark genus are altogether marine : and are 

 said to be much rarer in the Baltic than in any other sea : they are 

 viviparous, and are observed to produce more young at a time than 

 the rays, but each included, as in those fishes, in a quadrangular 

 capsule, or involucrum, each extremity of which is extended into a 

 long, contorted, cartilaginous thread of great length. Many of 

 the sharks are said to emit a phosphoric light during the night : they 

 are chiefly of a solitary nature ; and, in general, devour with indis- 

 criminating voracity, almost every animal substance, whether living 

 or dead : some few species, however, are observed to feed chiefly 

 on fuci, and other marine vegetables. 



The great or white shark, so remarkable for its vast size, and its 

 powers of destruction, is an inhabitant of most parts of the globe, 

 though much more frequently seen in the warmer than the colder 

 latitudes : it is said to reside, principally, in the depths of the ocean, 

 from whence it rises, at intervals, in order to prowl for prey, and is 

 considered as the most voracious of all the inhabitants of the deep. 

 Jt arrives at the length of more than thirty feet, and is of a some- 

 what thicker or broader form than most of the genus : the head is 

 of a depressed shape, and broad ; terminating in front in an ob- 

 tusely pointed snout : the mouth is of vast width, and furnished, on 

 the margin of each jaw, with from three to six rows of strong, flat, 

 triangular, sharp-pointed, and finely serrated teeth, which are so 

 imbedded in their investing cartilage, as to be either raised or de- 

 pressed at pleasure : the tongue is broad, thick, and cartilaginous, 



