104 



FISH GALLERY. 



equally common in other parts of the Atlantic and Mediterranean as 

 well as on the coasts of California and New Zealand. It attains to a 

 length of 15 feet, of which the tail takes more than one half, and is 

 quite harmless to man. It follows the shoals of Herrings, Pilchards, 

 and Sprats in their migrations, destroying incredible numbers; 

 when feeding it uses its long tail in splashing the surface of the 

 water, whilst it swims in gradually decreasing circles round a shoal 

 of fishes, which, thus kept crowded together, fall an easy prey 

 to their enemy. The Basking-Shark {Selache maxima, fig. 94), 



< 



Fig. 94. 



s 



^ip^^^ 



Basking-Shark (Selache maxima). 



of which a male specimen 28 feet long, obtained near Shanklin, 

 Isle of Wight, is exhibited in the middle of the Gallery, is the 

 largest Shark of the North Atlantic, growing to a length of more 

 than 30 feet. It is quite harmless if not attacked, its food con- 

 sisting of small fishes and other small marine animals which swim 

 in shoals. On the west coast of Ireland it is chased for the sake 

 of the oil which is extracted from its liver, one fish yielding from 

 a ton to a ton and a half. Its capture is attended with some 

 danger, as one blow from its enormously strong tail is sufficient 

 to stave in the sides of a large boat. 



The Notidanidce are characterized by having only one dorsal fin, 

 without spine, opposite to the anal, and by lacking a nictitating 

 membrane or eyelid ; they contain two genera — Notidanus, dis- 

 tributed over nearly all the tropical and subtropical seas ; and 

 Chlamydoselache , from Japan. 



The ScylliidcE, or Dog-fishes, are mostly of small size. The 



