668 NATURAL HISTOET OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



south of Point Concepcion only. Baia inornata, Raia Mnoculata, Baia rhina, and Baia stellulata, 

 all true Eays, ranging from Santa Barbara or Monterey northward; B. Mnoculata and B. rJdna 

 as far as Alaska. B. inornata and B. Mnoculata are brought into the market of San Francisco in 

 considerable numbers. The latter reaches a length of six feet, the former of two and a half feet. 

 Bhinobatus exasperatus, J. & G.,in San Diego Bay; Bhinohatus productus, and Bhinobatus triseriatus, 

 from San Francisco southward, and the Torpedo, Torpedo californica, about San Francisco, com- 

 plete the list. 



Only the French in San Francisco can be said to be fond of the Eays, and so long as the 

 present abundance of better fish continues none of them will have any special economic value. 

 The oil in the liver is so little that it is only preserved by the Indians. 



199. THE SAW-FISH— PRISTIS PECTINATUS 



Of the Saw-flshes, Pristidw, there is at least one species, Pristis pectinatus, on the Florida 

 coast. Stragglers are taken occasionally in the Chesapeake Bay, and even farther north. A 

 specimen sixteen feet three inches in length and four feet in width was taken at Cape May in July, 

 1878. Its saw was four feet three inches long, and was armed with forty-nine teeth. The Saw- 

 fish is, however, rarely seen north of Florida. In the Everglades these fish are said to be exceed- 

 ingly abundant. In the Saint John's River individuals of all sizes, from one to eight feet in 

 length, are taken as high up as Jacksonville. They are considered by the fishermen to be very 

 much of a nuisance, since they are exceedingly powerful and play great havoc with the shad-nets. 

 As they swim they move laterally, with a swinging motion, the head and snout, which latter is 

 powerfully armed on each side with very strong teeth. Mr. Camps, of New Berlin, told me that 

 he had three cast-iron rowlocks broken off close to the gunwale by a single blow of the saw of a 

 large individual. In the Indian River and its tributaries the Saw-fish is said to be very common, 

 attaining the width of six or eight feet. On the Gulf coast, according to Stearns, it is rather 

 common, being a bottom fish and frequently caught in seines. Stearns states that he once saw a 

 specimen in Saint Andrew's Bay that must have been fully fifteen feet long. 



200. THE SHARKS— SaUALI. 



< 



There are at least twenty species of Sharks upon our Atlantic coast, some of which are of 

 considerable economic value, while others are simply of interest as being annoyances to fishermen. 



The Bone Shark — Cetokhinus maximus. 



This species is a native of the Arctic Seas, but has been observed in the Western Atlantic as 

 far south as Now York, and on the European coast to Portugal. It is known among our fisher- 

 men as the "Bone Shark," and is also called the "Basking Shark" from its habit of basking or 

 remaining quiet for a long time in one place. It is the " Sun-fish" of the Irish and Welsh coasts; 

 the "Sail-fish" of Northern Great Britain, while in the Orkneys it is called the "Hoe Mother," 

 contracted to " Homer " — the word " Homer " signifying the mother of the spiny Dogfish which is 

 there known by the name "Hoe." The Bone Shark is one of the largest of Sharks, and many 

 years ago a learned dissertation was published by its first describer. Bishop Gunner, of Norway, 

 attempting to prove that this was the species of fish which swallowed Jonah. Yarrell examined 

 a specimen, taken off Brighton, which measured thirty-six feet in length ; a large individual was 

 secured in the lower harbor at New York in 1822, while in 1828 a smaller individual obtained in 

 Maine was brought to New Tork, the dimensions of which were twenty-eight feet in length and 

 sixteen feet in circumference. In September, 1839, an individual thirty-four leet long was stranded 



