1142 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
it was this uncleanness, which is shared by the whole 
phalanx, that suggested the ancient name of Squalus% 
Furthermore, the profile of the Porbeagle indicates far 
more stupidity in combination with ravenousness than 
that of other Sharks. The Porbeagle is said to be a 
more rapid swimmer than most of them, a statement 
apparently borne out by the powerful caudal fin and 
the keeled, robust tail, which in nearly all fishes is the 
principal organ of locomotion. 
The food of the Porbeagle consists chiefly of fishes 
and Cephalopods. The Herring-shoals in particular 
suffer greatly from its depredations; and several Por- 
beagles often join company in the chase. Like the 
preceding species these Sharks too sometimes become 
entangled in Herring or Pilchard nets. Deep-sea lines 
do not escape their ravages (Thompson and Day); and 
many a narrative relates how the Porbeagle dashes up 
to secure the Whiting, Cod, or other fish which the 
fisherman has hooked. 
Of the breeding of the Porbeagle not much is 
known. The young are considerably developed at birth. 
The foetus described by Gunnerus, which was taken 
out of the mother-fish in summer, measured “nearly 
three-quarters of a Zealand ell’’ (47 cm.) in length. 
Sundevall examined a young specimen 74 cm. long, 
and found that every external trace of the navel, which 
is situated in the Sharks between the pectoral fins, had 
disappeared. Hence he concluded that the length of 
the young at birth must be between these two dimen- 
sions. In a female cited by Pennant only two foetuses 
were found. 
The Porbeagle is not much sought after by Scan- 
dinavian fishermen, for the liver is small and lean, with 
a scanty yield of oil, and it is only for this sake that 
the large Sharks are taken. By accident, however, or 
in the absence of better fish, the Porbeagle is caught 
by the Norwegian Shark-fishermen. In the south of 
the Cattegat and in the Sound it is scarcely ever taken 
except when it entangles itself in the nets set for other 
fishes. The skin is fairly well adapted for the polishing 
of articles of fine workmanship, in wood or horn for 
instance, and it is also applied to this purpose. The 
hard scales "withstand a considerable amount of wear. 
The flesh of this species, like that of many other 
Sharks, has a disagreeable smell, and it is hardly eaten 
in Sweden; but in Italy and Spain it enjoys a better 
reputation. 
(Sundevall, Smitt.) 
Genus CETORHINUS 6 . 
Teeth numerous , small, conical. Branchial arches furnished with baleen-like , fine , long , and dense gill-rakers. 
Anterior gill-openings extended across the greater part of the sides of the bodg. Tail with transverse grooves in 
front of the caudal fin and with the sides longitudinally carinated. Caudal fin crescent-shaped. 
The genus of the Basking Shark occupies within 
the Lamnoid family a position analogous to that of the 
Hounds in the preceding family; but in the Basking 
Shark, the solitary species of the genus, the reduction 
of the jaw-teeth has advanced still further, these organs 
having scarcely retained any function, at least in the 
capacity of Shark-teeth. The genus consequently does 
not belong to those commonly known as predatory 
fishes; but it contains the most gigantic piscine forms. 
As we have mentioned above, it shares with another 
genus of huge fishes (Rhino don) a manner of life si- 
milar to that of the large tvhales. Notwithstanding its 
own great size, it lives exclusively on minute creatures, 
which it strains off from the seawater by means of its 
gill-rakers. This manner of procuring food calls for a 
wide mouth and a capacious pharynx, with room for 
the filtering apparatus; and herewith is connected the 
great width of the branchial arches and apertures. In 
the remaining characters we easily recognise a form 
akin to the Porbeagle. The most important external 
difference to be found on comparison is that in the 
Basking Shark the second dorsal fin stands entirely in 
front of the perpendicular from the beginning of the 
anal fin or nearly so. 
The name of Cetorhinus means Whale-Shark, and 
has reference in the first place to the dimensions of 
a From the Latin squalor, filth. 
b Blnvlle, Bull. Soc. Philom. P.aris, 1816, p. 121. 
