66 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



dorsal and pectorals tinged blackish. Iris blue-black. Length 

 nearly 21 inches. Grassy Sound. 



I have taken this species associated with Cynais cams and Car- 

 charhmus milberti in the inlets and waters on the flats below 

 Atlantic City. South of this region it is abundant, many exam- 

 ples having been secured at Stone Harbor, Anglesea, Holly 

 Beach and Cape May. Mr. Wm. J. Fox found it frequently off 

 Sea Isle City running to 3 feet in length. At times it is espe- 

 cially abundant and a great annoyance to fishermen. Off shore 

 they reach a large size, some said to be 15 feet in length. In the 

 inlets they are usually less than a yard, while the large ones 

 outside often attain 9 feet. According to Mr. H. Walker Hand 

 they were reported as usually irregular, probably traveling in 

 schools and taking fish-bait. He also states that they are abun- 

 dant at times in Delaware Bay. Dr. Dahlgren reports it from 

 a number of places along our coast. 



Sphyrna zygcefia Bean, Bull. U. S. F. Com., VII, 1887, p. 151. 



Zygcena malleus Baird, 9th An. Rep. Smiths. Inst., 1854, p. 



337 [353]. 



C estracion siibarciiatiis Ahhoit, Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 828. 



Family SQUALID^. 



The Dog Sharks. 



Body more or less elongate. Head depressed. Eyes lateral, 

 without nictitating membrane. Mouth inferior, rather large, 

 arched, and deep groove on each side. Teeth compressed, vari- 

 ously formed. Nostrils inferior, separate. Gill-openings mod- 

 erate, all in front of pectorals. Spiracles rather large. Ovi- 

 parous. Dorsal fins 2, and first in front of ventrals. Caudal 

 with lower lobe small or obsolete. Ventrals inserted posteriorly, 

 not much before second dorsal. 



Small sharks, chiefly of the Atlantic, representing a compara- 

 tively primitive type. A single genus and species from our 

 shores. 



