f 212 ] 

 THE BASKING SHARK*. 



This species has derived its name from its pro- 

 pensity to lie on the surface of the water, as if to 

 bask itself in the sun. It possesses, (though a very 

 large fish,) none of the voracity and ferociousness 

 that mark the generality of the Shark tribe. It will 

 frequently lie motionless on the surface of the wa- 

 fer, generally on its belly, but sometimes on its back ; 

 and it seems so little afraid of mankind as often to 

 suffer itself to be patted and stroked. 



Its body is slender, and from three to twelve 

 yards in length, of a deep lead colour above, and 

 white below. The upper jaw is blunt at the end, 

 and much longer than the lower. The mouth is 

 placed beneath, and furnished with small teeth ; 

 those before much bent, and the remote ones co- 

 nical and sharp-pointed. On each side of the neck 

 are five breathing apertures. There are two dorsal, 

 two pectoral, two ventral fins, and one small anal 

 fin. Within the mouth, near the throat, is a short 

 kind of whalebone. 



The Basking Sharks frequent our seas during the 

 warm summer months, and are not uncommon on 

 the Welsh and Scottish coasts, coming in shoals 

 usually after intervals of a certain number of years. 

 In the intervening summers, those that are seen on 

 the Welsh coast are generally single fish, that have 



* Synonyms.— Squalus maximus. £/««.«— Sun- fish. Smith's Hist, 

 CQrk.-—Penn. Brit. ZoqI. 'vol. 3. tab. 13. 



