August 27, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



191 



A THIRD CAPTURE ON THE FLORIDA 



COAST OF THE WHALE SHARK, 



RHINEODON TYPUS 



On June 11, 1919, a telegram was received 

 at the American Museum of Watural History 

 announcing the capture on the preceding day 

 near Miami, Florida, of a 31-foot Bhineodon 

 and asking if the museum wanted it for a 

 specimen. Since it was too late to have the 

 soft parts preserved, a message was sent ma- 

 king an ofier for the head, gill rakers, fins, 

 tail, and backhone, but no answer was re- 

 turned. 



This specimen of the whale shark was taken 

 June 10, 1919, in the Bay of Florida near 

 Man-of-War Key about eight miles southeast 

 of Cape Sable. Information concerning its 

 capture has been difficult to get (the latest ac- 

 count reaching me only recently), but the ac- 

 counts agree that this great shark, which when 

 first sighted looked like a piece of wreckage, 

 was aground in about five feet of water, the 

 center of the body on the shoal but the head 

 and especially the tail fairly free, while the 

 back extended about a foot above water. 

 About a hundred bullets were fired into the 

 shark before it finally succumbed. Holes were 

 then cut in the skin and ropes run through 

 these to hold the body fast when the tide rose. 

 It was then towed to the mouth of the canal 

 at Florida City and there skinned and the 

 jaws taken out. Unfortunately, neither the 

 gill-rakers nor the vertebrse were saved. 



To Dr. H. Schlegel, one of the captors, I 

 am indebted for two photographs showing the 

 skinning, and for another in which the fish is 

 seen lying somewhat on one side in the water 

 alongside the wharf. This picture shows the 

 gill slits, the dorsal ridge extending back to 

 the first dorsal fin, the broad back from which 

 the vertical stripes have faded, and most im- 

 portant of all, the lateral keel on the caudal 

 peduncle which is such a marked feature in 

 the description of the original discoverer. Dr. 

 Andrew Smith. 



As to size, this specimen of Bhineodon was 

 said to measure 31 feet and some inches long. 

 The body was about eight feet wide, and the 

 mouth about five feet across. The eye is 



described as being as large as a base baU, but 

 having a pupil about the size of the eye of a 

 child. It is greatly to be regretted that there 

 was no scientifically trained person at hand 

 to make careful measurements and give an 

 accurate description of this specimen. The 

 above figures are, however, believed to be sub- 

 stantially correct. The weight was estimated 

 to be about nine tons, which is probably an 

 excessive figure. 



The skin has been purchased by Mr. Arthur 

 D. Lord, of New York, and presented to the 

 American Museum of Natural History. It is 

 planned to have the skin mounted, or more 

 probably a cast made. This will be the only 

 mounted specimen in any museum in the new. 

 world. In the old world there are specimens 

 in the British Museum, the Paris, Madras, 

 Colombo (Ceylon) museums, and one in the 

 hands of a private dealer in curios in Japan. 

 In this country there is a skin in the United 

 States National Museum and a mounted 

 specimen in Miami, Florida. 



This is the third capture in Florida waters 

 of Bhineodon typus. The first, a small speci- 

 men 18 feet in length, came ashore at Ormond, 

 Florida, in 1902. The second specimen was 

 taken by Captain Charles Thompson, of 

 Miami, and Mr. Charles T. Brooks, of Cleve- 

 land, Ohio, toward the close of May, 1912. 

 This fish measured 38 feet long and about 18 

 feet in circumference, and Mr. Brooks esti- 

 mated its weight at five tons, while Captain 

 Thompson thought it would weigh three time 

 as much. Captain Thompson had this speci- 

 men mounted and placed on exhibition in 

 Miami. 



It is significant that two of the three 

 Florida specimens have been taken in locali- 

 ties not more than thirty to forty miles 

 apart, while the third, although it came 

 ashore some distance further north, was 

 evidently carried there by the Gulf Stream. 

 Further it is interesting to note that one 

 specimen was found dead, and that the 

 other two put up fights for liberty by no 

 means in correspondence with their immense 

 size and strength. Mr. L. L. Mowbray, Di- 

 rector of the Miami Aquarium, from certain 



