LENGTH OF SHARKS 313 



The Mackerel Sharks is a fair type of the sharks of 

 the world. It is common along both coasts of the United 

 States, and the length of fully grown specimens is between 

 9 and 10 feet. 



The Hammer-Head Shark^ is a genuine curiosity. With 

 no intermediate forms leading up to this strange departure, 

 the head of this creature suddenly thrusts out on each side a 

 great shelf of cartilage and skin, in the outermost edge of 

 which the eye is situated! It is like, a flat-headed shark 

 with a 7-inch board 20 inches long placed squarely across its 

 forehead. This species is found in the seas of the tropics 

 and subtropics, practically around the world. Once when 

 the writer was approaching the coast of Barbados, on a 

 sailing vessel, a large Hammer-Head swam for fifteen minutes 

 close to the bow of the ship, and quite near the surface. In 

 the Havana market I once obtained a specimen nearly 10 

 feet long. This species brings forth its young alive, and 

 occasionally specimens are taken as far north as New Jersey. 



Sizes of Sharks. — The majority of the species of sharks 

 are under 8 feet in length, and a few are as small as 2 feet, 

 when adult. The largest species are the following: 



The Basking Shark {Rhinodon typicus) 45 feet. 



The Bone Shark (Cetorkinus maximus) 36 



The Man-Eater, or White Shark {Carcharodon carcharia.s). . . . 30 



The Great Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo tigrinus) 30 



The Hammer-Head (Sphyrna zygaena) 15 



The Blue Shark (C'archarias caeruleus) 15 



The Thresher Shark (Alopias vidpes) 15 



The Mackerel Shark {Lamna cornubica) 10 



' Lam'na cor-nu'bi-ca. ^ Sphyr'na zy-gae'na. 



