PICKED DOG-K1SH. Acdnthias vulgaris. 



The colour of the Picked Dog-fish is slaty grey above, diversified, when young, with 

 a few white spots, and the under parts are yellowish white. The skin is rough if stroked 

 from the tail to the head, and smooth when rubbed in the reverse direction. The average 

 length of this species is about eighteen inches. 



The GEEENLAND or NOKTHEKN SHARK (Daldtias loredlis] must receive a brief notice, 

 as it is frequently mentioned in accounts of whaling voyages. 



This species is remarkable for the very small proportionate size of the fins, and for 

 the manner in which the points of the teeth diverge from the centre of the jaw. It is a 

 great foe to the whale and whalers, and is so heedless of danger when intent on satisfying 

 its hunger, that it will follow a dead whale to the ship, mix boldly with the men who are 

 engaged in cutting the blubber, thrust its head boldly among them, and at every bito 

 scoop out lumps as large as a man's head. 



So deeply engaged is the creature in this interesting occupation, that even if a man 

 should slip into the water from the smooth oily skin of the whale, the Greenland Sharks 

 take no notice of him, but continue their depredations on the whale. Even after the long 

 whaling knife has been thrust through its body, it will dart off for the moment on feeling 

 the wound, but will soon return to the same spot and continue its banquet. It also feeds 

 on crustaceans and small fishes. Many specimens are nearly if not wholly blinded by a 

 parasitic animal technically called Lerncea elongata, some three inches in length, which 

 fastens upon the corner of the eye and lives upon its fluids. 



The colour of this species is brown with a shade of deep blue. Its length, when full 

 grown, is about fourteen feet. 



ANOTHER curious species of Shark, called appropriately the SPINOUS SHARK (Echi- 

 norhinus spinosus), is notable for the spine-topped bony tubercles which are scattered 

 over the surface 01 the body. The greater number of these spinous projections are boldly 

 hooked, in a manner not unlike the thorns of the common bramble, and the points are 

 directed backwards ; others, however, are quite straight and stand upright. The object of 

 these curious spines is not clearly known. They are very small in proportion to the size 

 of the fish, and it is said that the males are more thickly studded with them than 

 the females. 



