370 ON A SUPPOSED NEW GALEOCERDO. [May 28, 



opening exposed ; the eye placed over the centre of the mouth, 

 small, round, with a round pupil, bronzed silver iris and large granu- 

 lar nictitating membrane. The mouth large, crescentic, near the 

 end of the snout, and with corner folds large above and small below. 

 Body short, thick, keeled on each side from behind the first dorsal 

 to beyond the tail-pits and along the dorsum between the two dorsal 

 fins. The fourth and fifth gill-slits are over the pectoral fin, the 

 last the smallest. The spiracles very small, linear and placed behind 

 the eye, nearly vertical to the corner fold of the mouth. All the 

 fins comparatively small ; the first dorsal fin nearly midway between 

 the pectoral and the ventral fins ; the second dorsal placed over, but 

 a little in advance of, the anal fin, which last has a deep notch on its 

 posterior border. The upper lobe of the tail is long and curved, 

 having a small lobule terminating in a fine point, with a notch 

 below ; lower lobe nearly half as long as the upper one. A large 

 semilunar tail-pit above and below. The colour of the skin is of a 

 slaty hue on the back, marked with transverse bands, interspersed 

 with spots ; the belly white." 



The following descriptions we make from the series of seven jaws 

 now in the Haslar Museum, and the two Australian jaws preserved 

 by Mr. Rayner with the preparation of dry skin. 



Teeth, upper jaw — one small central asymmetrical tooth, bending 

 to the left and similar in form to the side teeth, which are consi- 

 derably larger. In the lower jaw there is one small, central, nearly 

 symmetrical tooth, broad at the base, finely serrate at the sides, 

 giving off, at an acute angle, a denticle on each side, about half- 

 way up, and a central fang which comprises the upper half of the 

 tooth, and which, when seen with a lens, is found to be delicately 

 creuulatcd. With this exception the teeth are alike in both jaws, 

 and may be described as broad at the base, with a considerable con- 

 vexity behind, flatter in front, asymmetrical, springing up from the 

 anterior border with a backward curve to form a trenchant fang of 

 a spear-head shape, the posterior border of which only encroaches 

 upon half the width of the tooth ; serrate on both sides, the serra- 

 tures becoming finer towards the summit, while those occupying the 

 hinder half of the tooth are larger and have fine secondary serra- 

 tions on their edges. About eleven teeth on each side in both jaws, 

 the last three, near the angles of the jaws, diminishing in size. 



The colour of the dry skin is dingy grey with a certain amount of 

 warmth, which is probably due to exsiccation, and the spots are of a 

 still darker hue. 



The scales are placed in quiucuncial order with wide interspaces, 

 the base of each scale broad, three-rayed and gibbous in front, thus 

 representing the tisualty rhomboidal base of Shark's scales, the upper 

 part shovel-shaped, somewhat reflexed at the edges, and with an 

 elevated central ridge bifid posteriorly. 



We have considered it useful to subjoin a summary of the chief 

 results obtained by a comparison of the two Sharks, G. tixjrinus and 

 O. rayneri, as respectively figured and described by Miiller & Henle 

 and in the present paper. 



