34 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



Body rather robust, the head broad and depressed; mouth inferior, with 

 the teeth in both jaws strongly serrated in the adult, less so or entire in 

 the young; those in the upper jaw broad or narrow, those below narrow, 

 straight, and nearly erect. No spiracles. First dorsal large, placed not 

 far behind pectorals ; pectorals falcate ; second dorsal small. Embryos 

 attached by placenta to the uterus, as in Scoliodon,* TriaJcis, and Galeus. 

 Species very numerous and difficult of separation. Voracious sharks of 

 the warm seas, (/cap^aptac, an old name of C. lamia, from napxapog, jagged ; 

 pivr), shark, the name first applied to Squatiua, from its rasp-like skin; 

 pivij, a file.) 



a. Teeth in both jaws distinctly serrate in the adult ; the serrae on the lower teeth smaller ; 



upper teeth rather broad, lower teeth narrower ; snout not very acute. 

 PLATYPODON, (wAarus, broad ; {!<>, under; odovs, tooth): 

 b. Upper teeth oblique, deeply notched on the outer margin ; lower teeth narrow, 



scarcely or not notched. 



c. Pectorals very large, 3 times as long as broad, falciform, extending beyond base 



of first dorsal ; color blue-gray. OBSCCRUS, 39. 



cc. Pectorals shorter, not 3 times as long as broad, extending little if any beyond 



base of first dorsal. 

 d. Length of snout from mouth, little if any greater than width of mouth. 



e. Distance from end of base of first dorsal to ventrals less than length of 



base of first dorsal. 

 /. Nasal flap without sharp lobe. 



g. Second dorsal smaller than anal ; snout depressed ; first dorsal 

 close behind pectorals. Light gray. PLATYRHYNCHUS, 40. 

 gg. Second dorsal and anal nearly equal ; color blue-gray. 



FALCIFORMIS, 41. 



mancanza degli Spiragli." Under this group one new species is described, Carcliarias taunis, a 

 species of Odontcupis, as the genera have been understood. 



No type is indicated by Rafinesque, but it is evident that he had the Squalut carcharias of Lin- 

 naeus in mind as type, in accordance with his custom of raising Linnaean species to the rank of 

 genera. In Rafinesque's Indice, published in the same year, 1810, a few months later, Squalus 

 .carcharias, L., appears as the type of Carcharias under the name of Carcharius lamia. The Squalus 

 carcharias of Linnaeus as understood by Rafinesque was Carcharhinus lamia. It was primarily 

 based on Carcharodon carcharias, a species not known to most of the succeeding authors, who 

 applied the name Squalus carcharias to Carcharias lamia instead of to Carcharodon. Cuvier dis- 

 tinctly makes lamia the type of his genus Carcharias as he refers to Be"lon's figure of "Cants 

 carcharias" as the only good representation of bis species. 



Belon's figure plainly represents Carcharias lamia. It is also evident that Rafinesque has the 

 lamia in mind in referring to his "Squalus carcharias" or " Carcharias lamia." The phrase " Coda 

 disiguale,obbliqua," shows this, as also does the fact that the species was placed in the list of Sicil- 

 ian fishes. Carcharias lamia is common in Sicily. Carcharodon carcharias is rare in the Mediterra- 

 nean. In fact, few of the earlier writers in Italy or France knew the Carcharodon, and referred 

 all accounts of it to the great shark known to them, Carcharias lamia. So far as intention of the 

 author goes, Carcharias of Rafinesque should be strictly synonymous with Carcharias of Cuvier, 

 and both based on the same type as the Eidamia of Gill. Carcharhinus of Blainville wan originally 

 based, according to Gill, on his Squalus commersoni, which seems to be Carcharimis lawia. In this 

 connection we may note that Rafinesque, in 1810, seemed to have used but two general treatises 

 on fishes, the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus, and the Historic Naturelle des Poissons of Lacepede. 

 Rafinesque's genus Carcharias is Lace'pede's "Premier eousgenre, une nageoire de 1' anus sans 

 <5vents." His Galeus is the "Second sousgenre une nageoire de 1' anus et deux events," while 

 the^name Squalus is retained by him for the "Troisieme sousgenre, deux events sans nageoire 

 de 1 anus." Rafinesque's remaining genera, Dalatias, Tetroras, Isurus, Cerictius, Alopias, etc., are 

 based on species supposed by Rafiuesque to be new. 



If we should refer Rafinesque's genera to the groups of Lacepede, on which they were really 

 based, Carcharias would be equivalent to Carcharhinus and Galeus to Galeorhinus. On the other 

 hand, the strict rule of requiring the type of a genus to be taken from the species actually men- 

 tioned by its author makes the arrangement here adopted the necessary one. As in other dis- 

 puted cases, we here follow the rules strictly. 



* So far as known to us, the embryos in all our other viviparous sharks are without placentas. 



