1915] Gudger : The Whale Shark. 367 



that the skin has shrunk much and that the fish measured nearly 

 1000 cm. when fresh. He says, moreover, that the shark was 

 covered with many sucking fishes and one of these fishes and 

 a pole made of oak (ca. 30 cm. long) were found in the stomach. 



"Though the hitherto-known allied species (Rhineodon typicus 

 Smith and Micristodus punctatus Gill) are described insufficient- 

 ly, I am inclined to believe that this fish is a new species of the 

 genus Rhinodon, as it differs from these species in the form of 

 teeth and the labial fold. Hence, I propose the name of Rhino- 

 don pentalineatus for this species." 



Jordan and Fowler (1903) list this shark in their "Elasmo- 

 branchiate Fishes of Japan" on the basis of Kishinouye's de- 

 scription. 



On page 88 of his Introduction et Description de VExpedi- 

 tion (Siboga), Max Weber (1902) records the fact that, while 

 in the strait between Buton and Muna, Celebes Islands, East 

 Indies, several examples of the Whale Shark were seen but none 

 could be captured. 



In his description of the fishes of this expedition (vol. 57 of 

 Siboga Expeditie, p. 594) , Weber says that these gigantic sharks 

 swam around the vessel so closely that they were easily recog- 

 nizable, but that, when an effort was made to capture them, they 

 sank out of sight. 



In Science for February 28, 1902, Mr. B. A. Bean, Assistant 

 Curator of Fishes in the United States National Museum, re- 

 cords the stranding on the shore near Ormond, Florida, of an 

 18-foot specimen of Rhineodon typus. This is the first record 

 of the occurrence of this rare shark on the eastern coast of 

 America, and, in fact, its first known occurrence in the Atlantic 

 Ocean. Its skin is now among the treasures preserved in the 

 National Museum at Washington. 



In the issue of Science for May 23, 1902, there appeared an 

 exceedingly interesting article entitled "The Whale Shark 

 (Rhinodon typicus) as an American Fish," from the facile pen 

 of Dr. Theodore Gill. In this Dr. Gill gives a valuable resume 

 of a good portion of the known references to this rare fish, and 

 concludes by conjecturing that the American forms may pos- 

 sibly be of a distinct species entitled Rhineodon punctatus. 



