222 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
and ventrals lie flat out from it, and between them on each side 
there is a strong cartilaginous ridge, forming—with a similar one 
across between the pectorals—a flat space resembling the belly of 
the Monk (or Angel-fish), but harder. 
The ventrals are distinct, and on the inner side of each is a 
rudimentary clasper. There are no anals, and the caudal is 
single-lobed, except that just where the fleshy part ends there 
is a slight indentation. The nostrils are large, underneath the 
snout, in advance of the mouth, and divided into two lobes each 
by two cutaneous flaps overlapping each other. Within is visible 
a very delicate membrane, something of the shape of a fern-leaf 
or the back-bone of a sole. The lateral line starts from the 
extremity of the nozzle, passes over the orbit of the eyes in a 
pale broad line down the side with a slight curve, and is entirely 
lost just behind the second dorsal. 
The colour is dark cinereous in blotches over the back, and 
light cinereous on the belly, and the skin is the roughest I ever 
saw on any shark. ‘The dorsals are very long and high. The 
first dorsal in my specimen is four inches and a half long at the 
base, three inches and four-eighths high at its extreme rear (where 
it is highest), and the spine is two inches and seven-eighths long; ; 
and the second dorsal, just five inches to the rear of the first, is 
nearly about the same size. As I have said, these large standing 
dorsals at once distinguish the fish, and if it ever gets common 
enough to require an English name it should be called the 
Spritsail Shark. Bloch mentions it as a Mediterranean species, 
and also as occurring in France, in the Northern Ocean, but I do 
not understand whether, by the Northern Ocean, he refers to the 
English Channel or the North Sea. My specimen is in the hands 
of Mr. Vingoe for preservation. 
[The occurrence of Squalis centrina on the British coast is a new 
and highly interesting fact. This shark is an inhabitant of considerable 
depths, and is not uncommon in the Mediterranean, but we believe has 
not hitherto been found further north than the latitude of Lisbon. It is 
to be hoped that this important specimen will be well preserved and 
deposited in some public Museum.—Ep.] 
