1338 Fishes. 



men of a fish, which I recognized as the Six-branchial, or Gray Shark : 

 a species new to the Fauna of Cornwall, and until lately, to Britain. 

 Beside the advantage of making a record of the occurrence of every 

 novelty in Natural History, as neither any precise description of this 

 species, nor a figure, is to be found in any work that is easily acces- 

 sible, I have much pleasure in communicating the particulars derived 

 from this capture, together with a drawing, to the Natural History 

 Society of Penzance. The length of this specimen was 2 feet, 2 J 

 inches ; the head wide, and level over the summit ; the breadth, from 

 eye to eye, 2| inches ; the snout rounded in front, and somewhat 

 thick ; eye large, staring, and slightly oval ; without an angle on the 

 anterior portion, or inner canthus, and destitute of a nictitant mem- 

 brane. This portion of the eye is immediately over the symphysis of 

 the lower jaw. The larger nostril is half way between the eye and 

 snout, enclosed by a prominent margin, the orifice directed forward. 

 Temporal orifice small, lj inch from the posterior angle of the eye. 

 The gape very large ; tongue bound down, and not apparent ; teeth, 

 in the upper-jaw eight on each side, thin at the base, the points slen- 

 der and sharp, not serrated, their direction towards the angle of the 

 mouth. A small vacancy at the symphysis of this jaw ; and a little in 

 advance of this are four teeth, the two middle ones being very slender 

 and parallel, the points directed towards the mouth ; the other two 

 more remote, and their points diverging. A little in advance of these 

 are other two, that might easily escape observation, slender, smaller, 

 and more loosely attached. As in the upper jaw, so in the lower, 

 there is a single row of teeth, but they differ greatly in form, being 

 thin and broad, their anterior margin higher, the sloping edge finely 

 serrated ; they are six in number on each side of the symphysis, with 

 what appears like a small bifid intermediate one. Orifices of the gills 

 six, closely approximate ; the apertures long and encircling the throat. 

 The pectoral fins wide, triangular. Body with the general propor- 

 tions of the Picked Dog-fish ; the head wider and larger. Dorsal fin i 

 single, its anterior edge 14 inches from the snout, and opposite the 

 space between the ventrals and anal, it is larger than the latter. Cau- 

 dal fin 6j inches long, and consequently more than one-fourth of the 

 length of the fish, and longer as well as more slender than that of any 

 other British shark, except Squalus Vulpes. The inferior lobe of this 

 fin is falcate, and becoming attenuated as it proceeds; being narrowest 

 opposite the notch. Along the posterior two-thirds of the upper mar- 

 gin of the tail, is a row of spines, of three series, closely pressed to- 

 gether at the roots, and the two outmost regularly diverging. Tex- 



