246 THE PLAGIOSTOMIA. 



of three feet in length, the crowns are broad and each has a slender, narrow, 

 pointed cusp. On this individual the distance between the nostril and the 

 barbel about equals that between the nostril and the third or the fourth gill 

 opening. 



Pectorals short, broad; dorsals subequal; subcaudal, narrow, tapering 

 toward each end, separated from the tip by a shallow notch; supracaudal wider, 

 widening backward. Scales entirely covering dorsals and pectorals, minute, 

 with a median keel. 



Waite mentions a specimen measuring fifty inches, which is probably large 

 for the species. 



Eastern Australia, New South Wales; Tasmania. 



Pristiophorus oweni of Giinther differs from P. cirratus in having regular 

 teeth on the rostral edges. It was only thirteen inches in length, which may 

 account for the regularity in size of teeth. 



Pristiophorus japonicus. 



Plate 52, fig. 3, (pelvis); Plate 56, fig. 6, (heart); Plate 58, fig. 5, (intestine); Plate 64, fig. 1, 



(head & skeleton). 



Pristiophorus cirratus Richardson, 1846, Rept. Brit, assoc. adv. sci. for 1845, p. 317 part; Schlegel, 

 1850, Jap. Pisces, p. 305, pi. 137; Bleeker, 1854, Verh. Bat. gen., 26, p. 128. 



Pristiophorus japonicus GtJNTH., 1870, Cat. fishes Brit, mus., 8, p. 432; Ishikawa & Matsuura, 1897, 

 Cat. fishes, p. 61; Jord. & Fowler, 1903, Proc. U. S. nat. mus., 26, p. 639. 



Body elongate, tapering from near mid length to end of snout and tail; 

 lower surface flattened, with a strong dermal ridge on each side from ventrals 

 to caudal, caudal axis slightly raised. Head depressed, snout a long lamina 

 with irregular sharp teeth on each edge. Eye large, elongate, superior with 

 lateral outlook, forward of the mouth; orbit elliptical. Spiracle large, oblique, 

 upper end close to the eye. Barbel less than half way from mouth to end of 

 snout, flattened, reaching the nostril. Nostril in front of the eye, about one 

 fourth of the distance from mouth to barbel. Mouth wide, with a rudimentary 

 labial fold at the angle on the lower jaw. Teeth small in forty-six rows (46-58) 

 on the upper jaws and thirty-eight or more on the lower; crown broad, with a 

 sharp slender cusp. Gill openings moderate, width equal that of spiracle or two 

 thirds the length of the orbit, in front of the pectorals. Pectorals large, sub- 

 truncate, broader than long. Dorsals smaller than pectorals, equal, hinder angles 

 produced; origin of first one and one-half times the length of the base in front of 

 that of the ventrals. Ventrals smaller than dorsals, outer margins somewhat 



