INTRODUCTION. 3 



Carcharias. — This genus was characterized by Rafinesque, 1810, from the 

 species C. taurus Raf., 1810; it is retained here as originally introduced. 

 Carcharias Cuvier, 1817, belongs to a different family; it is a synonym of a 

 Carcharinus Blainville, 1816. 



VuLPECULA. — Valmont, 1768, gives a description of V. marina of earlier authors. 

 His species is Squalus vulpinus Bonn., 1788, the Alopias macrourus Raf., 

 1810, A. vulpes Bonap., 1841. The genus and the species are adopted from 

 Valmont. 



Rhincodon. — Smith, 1829, describes this genus from the species R. typus Smith, 

 1829. Rineodon, Rhineodon, Rhinodon, and Micristodus are synonyms. 



Catulus. — Catulus saxatilis Valmont, 1768, equals Squalus stellaris Linne, 1758. 

 The name of the genus is retained; the type species is given the earlier name. 



ScYLiORHiNUS. — In this subgenus of Squalus Blainville, 1816, placed twenty- 

 two nominal species. After types of eight genera, Catulus, Poroderma, 

 Cephaloscyllium, Pristiurus, Stegostoma, Ginglymostoma, Orectolobus, 

 and Chiloscyllium, have been removed there remain a half dozen or more of 

 the species not yet fully recognized, sufficient to prevent the adoption of 

 the name for a genus of different inclusions. Scyllium Cuvier, 1817, was 

 founded on species of Catulus Valmont, 1768. iS/cvXta, caniculae, dog-fish. 



Galeorhinus. — This genus is adopted from Blainville, 1816, with the first of 

 the six nominal species (of four genera) included by him as the type, G. 

 muslelus Linne sp. (part). 



MusTELus. — Because of diverse applications this name is not adopted. In the 

 feminine it was used by the earliest writers for both mammals and fishes. 

 It was used thus by Pliny. Jovius, 1524, applied it to a lamprey and states 

 its use among the Galei. Wotton, 1552, used it for a mammal and also 

 mentions "Galeus laevis vel Mustelus." Belon, 1553, p. 67 gives the name 

 to a number of sharks, on p. 75 to a lamprey, on p. 129 to a gadoid fish, 

 and on p. 69-70 he describes and figures Mustelus spinax, a species now in 

 the genus Squalus. Later authors show a similar diversity. Linne gave 

 the name Mustela to the mammal in 1735, 1758, and 1766. Valmont's 

 1768, Mustela vulgaris ''du genre des morues," 3, p. 178, was too late to 

 hold. His "Mustelus, espece de chien de mer," "C'est le galeus stellatus 

 des Auteurs," that is Squalus mustelus Linne. Under the name stellatus 

 it appears as Galeus stellatus Duhamel, 1777-1782, with its ally Galeus 

 laevis, 3, section 9, p. 300. If desirable to retain the name Mustelus for the 

 Shark it should be on the authority of Valmont, 1768, rather than on that 

 of Linck, 1790. 



