FOX SHARK. 379 



CHONDROPTERYGII. SQUALID&. 



THE FOX SHARK. 



SEA-FOX. THRESHER. SEA-APE. 



Carcharias vulpes, La Faux, ou Renard^ CUVIEK, Regne An. t. ii. p. 388. 



,, ,, Thresher, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 167, sp. 14. 



Vulpes marina, WILLUGHBY, p. 54, B. 6, fig. 2. 

 Squalus vulpes, Long-tailed Shark, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 145, 



pi. 17. 

 ,, ,, Le Squale Renard, BLAINV. Faun. Fran9- p. 94. 



THIS species is occasionally met with on the British coast: 

 Pennant examined one that measured thirteen feet in length ; 

 and specimens have been seen of fifteen feet long. It is 

 called the Sea-Fox from the length and size of its tail ; and, 

 according to Dr. Borlase, has received the name of Thresher 

 from its habit of attacking other animals, or defending itself, 

 by blows of the tail.* It is an inhabitant of the Mediterra- 

 nean, as well as other seas ; and a specimen has been taken 

 near Belfast. 



The extreme length of a specimen examined by Mr. 



Couch, " was in a straight line ten feet ten inches, and along 



the curve eleven feet eight inches ; three feet four inches 



round where thickest ; solid at the chest ; conical from the 



* See vol. i. page 144. 



2 C 2 



