34 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



largest specimen was 7.5 feet long and weighed 203 pounds. These are the only 

 records for the state, but the species is probably a regular member of the local 

 fauna. 



7. OAROHARHINUS MILBERTI (Miiller & Henle). 

 Blue Shark. 



Carcharias mitberti Miiller & Henle, Plagiostomen, 38, 183P: New York. 

 Carcharhinua milberti, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 37. Linton, 1905, 341; Beaufort. 



Diagnosis. — Body stout; head broad, depressed; mouth very broad, its width equal to 

 length of snout; upper teeth broad, triangular, coarsely serrate, lower teeth narrower, finely 

 serrate; pectoral fins small, not falcate, their length contained 6.5 times in total body length. 

 Color: intense blue above, white below. (Named in honor of a French naturalist, M. MUbert.) 



Inhabits the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts southward, and is not rare. 

 Specimens . have recently been brought to the Beaufort laboratory from the 

 harbor and adjacent waters. The largest example was caught with rod-and-line 

 by Mr. Russell J. Coles in Newport Channel near the Morehead railroad pier 

 July 25, 1902; it was 9 feet 2 inches long and 5 feet 2 inches in circumference at 

 thickest part of body; the head was 3 feet 11 inches in circumference at gape; 

 the mouth was 15.5 inches wide; the largest teeth were 0.9 inch along the cutting 

 surface and nearly as wide as base; the specimen contained 4 small embryos. 



Genus SCOLIODON MUUer & Henle. Oblique-toothed Sharks. 



Small sharks, with obsolete spiracles, a groove extending from angles of 

 mouth along both jaws, and teeth flat, pointing toward sides of mouth, each 

 tooth with a deep notch on outer margin near the sharp point. Two North 

 American species, one on each coast. {Scoliodon, oblique-toothed.) 



8. SCOLIODON TERR^-NOV^ (Ricliardson) . 

 "Sharp-nosed Shark" 



Squalus terrol-novos Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana, iii, 289, 1836; Newfoundland? (probably Carolina). 

 Scoliodon terrcB-novCB , Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 388; Beaufort harbor. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 43. 

 Carcharhiivus terros-novcB, Jordan, 1886, 26; Beaufort Jenkins, 1887, 84; Beaufort. Wilson, 1900, 3,55; Beau- 

 fort. Linton, 1905, 342; Beaufort. 



Diagnosis. — Body slender; snout flattened; mouth U-shaped; first dorsal fin midway 

 between pectorals and ventrals; second dorsal very small, .smaller than anal; pectorals large, 

 extending to middle of first dorsal. Color: gray; caudal fin margined with black, (terrce- 

 novce, Newfoundland.) 



Ranges from Massachusetts to Brazil, and is numerous on the South Atlantic 

 coast. It is one of the commonest sharks at Beaufort, and is frequently caught 

 from the wharf of the government laboratory. In the winter of 1891 Dr. Ken- 

 dall saw many taken in the beach seines at Cape Lookout. The usual length is 

 about 3 feet, but Jenkins records the capture of a 7-foot specimen at Beaufort. 



The food is quite varied; while fish probably constitute the principal food 

 at Beaufort, blue crabs, hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, shrimp, annelids, sea lettuce, 

 and mud have there been found in their stomachs. The young are born in 

 auvamer. 



