SCIENCE 



[Vol. XXII. No. 555 



Sharks in Lake Nicaragua. 



In a letter in the issue of Science for August 25, 1893, 

 Mr. C. H. Ames raises the question of the existence of 

 sharks in Lake Nicaragua and seems inclined to attribute 

 to fiction the accounts of their presence which have from 

 time to time been given. The reading of Mr. Ames's let- 

 ter reminded me of a visit to this lake made by my friend, 

 Mr. Charles W. Eichmond, of the U. S. National Museum, 

 and of the narrative he gave me, on his return, of his per- 

 sonal experience with the sharks. Mr. Eichmond passed 

 a year in Nicaragua in making natural historj' collections, 

 and spent considerable time on Lake Nicaragua and the 

 two rivers, the Frio and San Juan, which connect with it 

 on the south ; his visit occupied parts of the years 1892 

 and 1893. He has kindly furnished me some interesting 

 notes on the fresh-water sharks inhabiting Lake Nicara- 

 gua and its tributaries, which I venture to present, al- 

 though a contribution on this subject from the erudite 

 Professor Theodore Gill, which I understand has been sent 

 to Science, may render the present remarks supererogatory. 



There seems little ground at this time for doubting the 

 existence of sharks in this region. They are mentioned in 

 the works of Belt, Squier, and other writers on Nicaragua 

 and Central America , they are so well known to the in- 

 habitants of the country as to occasion little comment ; 

 and they have been recorded and described by several 

 ichthyological writers. 



The information gathered by Mr. Eichmond and his 

 personal observations tend to indicate that the sharks are 

 quite abundant. Two well-informed men, whose business 

 was the hunting of wadding birds for their plumes, re- 

 ported to him that they frequently saw sharks, and the 

 captain of one of the lake steamers, a resident of that re- 

 gion for more than thirty years, spoke of sharks as being 

 particularly numerous near Granada, where they remain 

 in the vicinity of the steamer when it is moored there. 

 At San Carlos, two Americans, who made frequent fishing 

 excursions on the lake, mentioned the occurrence of 

 sharks as not unusual. 



Mr. Eichmond saw a shark in the Eio Frio many miles 

 from its mouth. This river flows into the San Juan just 



below the lake ; on some maps it is incorrectly made to 

 empty into the lake. The example in question swam back 

 and forth near the bank of the river, and did not take 

 alarm even after several balls had been fired at it from a 

 rifle. It was in plain sight, and Mr. Eichmond had an 

 excellent opportunity to estimate its length, which ap- 

 peared to be about iive feet. During his voyage down 

 the river in a row boat, his companion, a Mi'. Hansen, 

 stopped one morning to fish from a snag in midstream. 

 The fish bit well and he Jiad some excellent sport. Once 

 he attempted to haul in a very desirable fish, and had got 

 it partlj' out of the water, when a shark seized it and took 

 both fish and hook. The shark came very near to the 

 gentleman and presented its head in uncomfortably close 

 proximity to his foot. Mr. Hansen had made a number 

 of trips uj) the Eio Frio and had seen sharks there before. 



Sharks are found in all parts of the San Juan Eiver, 

 which drains Lake Nicaragua. They are particularly 

 abundant at Castillo Viejo, where the telegraph operator 

 of the canal company whiles away his leisure hours in 

 catching them. Mr. Eichmond sav^^ several at this point, 

 doubtless attracted by the flesh of a monkey's skull which 

 he threw into the stream. The Machuca rapids below 

 Castillo make it impossible for salt water to reach that 

 place, and the sharks seen were presumably the same as 

 those infesting the lake. 



The shark inhabiting the lake apparently does not 

 reach a large size, as we are accustomed to judge sharks 

 on our coasts. Four or flve feet seems to be the average 

 length attained. 



The presence of this representative of a typically 

 marine order of fishes in Lake Nicaragua is not the only 

 interesting feature of the fish fauna of this body of water. 

 Mr. Eichmond refers to another order of salt-water 

 fishes, closely related to the sharks, which is represented 

 by a large species, the sawfish {Fristii>). The plume 

 hunters before mentioned reported seeing individuals 

 about three feet in length, and their occurrence was also 

 confirmed by Captain Augustine, of the steamer "Managua" 

 Systematic investigation of the fauna of this lake will 

 doubtless disclose the existence of other animals, appar- 



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