The Zoologist— August, 1870. 2257 



Length from the joint of the jaws to the extremity of the lower 

 in a straight line. ..... 



Width across the beaked projection 

 „ snuut behind it . 



„ eyes (the widest part of the head proper) . 



„ the gills ..... 



„ the body at the origin of caudal 



Girlh across gills ..... 



„ behind pectoral fin, which was the greatest girth of the body 

 „ near tail (where the width was 5 in.) 



If I were called upon to distinguish this fish from the "basking 

 shark" of Pennant, I should feel great hesitation in doing so. The 

 only positive distinction to which I could point would be the marked 

 difference in girth as compared with length of the body in the figure 

 given by him, and in my specimen I might perhaps also point to the 

 difference in the conformation of the snout and gills, and negatively I 

 could refer to his omission of all mention of the spiracles and their 

 position. The carinations on either side of the tail, which Pennant 

 notices in his large specimen may be the result of mature years, and 

 represent the ultimate form of the strong gristle which I found in the 

 same place in my specimen ; and it is possible that the girth of the 

 figure given by Pennant may be due to the accidental ignorance of 

 the engraver : on the whole, I am inclined to think that Pennant's 

 "basking shark" was probably of the species to which my fish 

 belongs ; but if so, then I say that the basking shark of Pennant is 

 not the basking shark of Yarrell and of Couch. The resemblance of 

 my fish to the basking shark, as described by these two naturalists, is 

 in the large size of the gills, the punctuated muzzle, and the number 

 and arrangement of the fins. And no doubt these things point to a 

 similarity in the habits of the two fish, but the points of difference are 

 so numerous, and especially the comparative girth of the body to the 

 length of the whole fish (for I do not admit that in the case of these 

 two recent authors the proportions may be an engraver's error), the 

 size of the teeth,* and situation of the spiracles, that I have very 

 little hesitation in pronouncing that it is not the basking shark of 

 these two authors. 



There are two other sharks mentioned by Couch from which my 



* Pennant says, "Each jaw is furnished with small teeth." Couch says, "The 

 teeth are one inch long." 



