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On the Occurrence of Squalus spinosus, Linn., on the Coast of 

 Yorkshire. By Arthur Strickland, Esq. 



On the 11th of August 1838, a large fish was brought on shore at 

 Burlington Quay, differing from any I had seen before, which had been 

 caught that morning in a trawl net ; its characters evidently bespoke it 

 to belong to the shark tribe, but differing in many respects from- any of 

 those usually met with. Its whole length was 1\ feet ; its girth in the 

 largest part (just behind the pectoral fin) was 3 feet 8 inches ; its whole 

 surface was covered with a skin strikingly different from the rough file- 

 like surface of most of the shark tribe, being very smooth and slimy ; 

 but the upper part of the back was studded over with sharp white 

 spines hooking backwards, the largest not above \ of an inch long, but 

 varying greatly in size. Each spine was set upon a thin hard circular 

 base about the size of a fourpenny piece. In some instances two, and 

 in a few, three spines were clustered together, but were usually separate 

 about one inch asunder. I could not perceive that they were placed 

 in any order or pattern. These spines continued less abundantly down 

 the sides, and seemed to cease altogether as they approached the belly, 

 but were abundant upon all the fins. A distinct lateral line commenced 

 above the insertion of the pectoral fin where it was slightly bent, 

 and from thence ran in a straight line to the tail, where it bent 

 upwards, and followed its course nearly to the extremity. The top 

 of the head was quite flat, ending in a blunt round snout, the space 

 between the eyes being somewhat more than that between the eye 

 and the end of the nose ; the eyes were large, and placed in the 

 projecting edge that overhung the mouth : nearly half-way between 

 the eye and the end of the nose were placed the nostrils, about \\ 

 in extent the longest way ; they were partially divided in the middle by 

 two valves, the posterior one short and blunt, the anterior longer and 

 pointed. The distance from the end of the nose to the mouth was 

 6 inches ; the whole of this space between the nose and mouth was 

 covered with numerous small open pores, probably the glands for the 

 secretion of the mucus that covered the whole surface of the body. The 

 mouth was furnished with three rows of teeth, with the commencement 

 of a fourth row imperfectly formed. The outer or larger row was set 

 upon an edge, but evidently movable, as some of these were doubled 

 backwards ; the rest were set behind these in lines, each tooth diminish- 

 ing in size to the last. The teeth were thin and sharp, about half an 

 inch broad, and a quarter of an inch high : the posterior edge was 

 formed into two longish points, the upper one pointing partly upwards ; 



