THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 177 



not seem to ha,ve been yet recorded in Victoria, but will probably 

 be taken on our side of the Straits. 



Other species, which roam widely, reach us more frequently. 

 The Seven-gilled Shark ( Notidanns or Heptanchus indicus), about 5 

 feet, usually, in length, is occasionally found in Hobson's Bay, and 

 as it also appears in Port Jackson and in Tasmanian waters, we 

 may fairly claim it as a member of our fauna, though its home is 

 in the Indian Ocean. It has, indeed, been taken anywhere in the 

 seas between the Cape and California. The Thresher or Fox 

 Shark (Alopecias vulpes), with a tail as long as his body, attaining 

 a good 10 feet in length, is one of those found in the English 

 Channel. Professor M'Coy says that it is very rarely met with 

 here ; he has two examples in the Museum, both obtained at 

 Hastings, Mr. Bracebridge Wilson informs me that he has seen 

 a school of them in Port Phillip, below the Quarantine Ground, in 

 1882, lashing the water with their long tails like so many porpoises. 

 This fish has been noticed, too, in Port Jackson and about 

 Tasmania. It follows the schools of herrings and allied clupeids, 

 and when we have further visits from these we may expect to see 

 more of the Fox Shark. The most terrible and infamous monster 

 of all this notorious family — the great White Shark of the West 

 Indian Seas ( Carcharodoii Ro^ideletii) — 1ms himself deigned to 

 call on a voyage of inquiry. Two specimens can be seen in the 

 Museum. I3oth were caught in Hobson's Bay, near Brighton — 

 one in 1873, the other in 1877. The genus is furnished with 

 those huge, flat, triangular, serrated teeth, which impress the 

 fossil-collector at Cheltenham. They are ranged in three ranks 

 around the capacious gape. These sharks sometimes reach a 

 length of 40 feet, and such carnivora as the Felidge must be 

 nibblers merely compared with such rapacious animals. One 

 might make one bite of a dolphin, and then look round inquiringly 

 for more. And the existing species is a pigmy in comparison 

 with those of eocene and miocene times. 



There seem to be only about ten kinds of strictly resident sharks 

 as yet known or recorded, but there are almost certainly more. 

 The list comprises the Hammer-head, the Grey Nurse, the Carpet 

 Shark, the Angel-fish, a spotted Dog-fish, the common European 

 Picked (or Spined) Dog-fish, the Australian Tope and Australian 

 Smooth-hound, the local Saw-fish, and, lastly, the world-famous 

 Port Jackson or Bull-head Shark. 



The Hammer-head (^Z>'^^//rt; malleiis) seems to be well established 

 with us. It lives mostly in rather deep water, and is, in conse- 

 quence, more rarely met with. The Port Phillip specimens are 

 small. The Hammer-heads have a bad reputation for their 

 ferocity, by which they seem to make up, to a certain extent, for 

 their comparatively small size. They are at once recognized by the 

 great lobes, one on each side of the head, which give the animal 

 a T shape. This shark is to be found in most of the oceans. 



