TTTK AaOTOrJAN NATURALIST. 179 



European forms. It has a strong spine in front of each of the 

 two dorsal fins. It is called picked because of these picks or 

 spines. It is not at all rare here, but not so abundant as in the 

 English Channel. Another Acanthias is found off Tasmania, but 

 I am not aware of a Victorian record, 



I saw a letter once in the Melbourne Daily Telegraph giving to 

 the public the information that our saw-fish was the Pristis 

 antiqiwrum. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Our 

 friend knew what a saw-fish was, and had seen the saw-fisli 

 described in popular works on natural history as Pristis a7iti- 

 qiionim. The conclusion was easy. Any saw-fish is a Pristis. 

 But the shark with the snout flattened and long drawn out, 

 furnished with a row of teeth on each side, which is not un- 

 frequently found in Hobson's Bay, is a much smaller fish than 

 the monster Pristis of tropical oceans. A Pristis [P. zysron) 

 is found in Moreton Bay, but the Port Phillip fish is a true 

 shark, with the gill openings lateral and not ventral, the 

 P?istiop horns nudipinnis of Gunther. 



The last of our sharks is the Pig-fish, Port Jackson or Bull- 

 head Shark, Heterodontus {Cestracion) Phillipi. I believe this is 

 the only one of our sharks, except probably Parascylliu7n mulialc 

 and Acanthias vulgaris, which is oviparous. Everyone is familiar 

 with the leathery eggs with spiral folds to be found entangled 

 among the stones and weeds of the shallow water in summer 

 time. The Bullhead has attracted much notice from its den- 

 tition, which connects it closely with sharks long ago extinct 

 which lived in European and other seas. It is the only shark 

 with front cutting or tearing, and back crushing teeth. As will 

 have been seen from the few remarks I have been able to make 

 on the other species, this is the most peculiar and characteristic 

 of our sharks. It is not found out of Austrahan waters. 



The number of known species of sharks is about i6o. If we 

 reckon our lo resident and 6 visiting members we make up 

 about one-tenth of the total. Tasmania boasts iS species; all 

 Australia 39, as yet. As Tasmania records more forms than 

 Victoria we shall probably have to increase our list. I shall be 

 very glad, as Secretary to the Port Phillip Biological Committee 

 of the Royal Society, to receive information or specimens. 

 Notices of occasional visitors are, of course, interesting, but 

 details of the habits and distribution of resident forms are of the 

 sjreater value. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To the Editor of the Victorian Naturalist. 



Sir, — Having seen in the October number of "Science Gossip" 

 a most dehghtful account of the " Melbourne Field Naturalists' 

 Club" re their expeditions to King Island, &c., I venture to ask 



