SAGRE. 
1165 
but behind (within) this row lie two or three rows of 
compensatory teeth, directed inwards and downwards. 
Thick dermal folds form, as usual, transverse curtains 
and cover the inner rows of teeth both in the upper 
jaw and the lower. The tongue is broad and flat. On 
opening the mouth, we can see from within straight 
through the large spiracles, which here, as in the pre- 
ceding species, have the anterior margin double. Here 
too they lie obliquely behind and above (within) the 
posterior ends of the orbits, so far inwards that the 
distance between them is only about 4 / 5 of the inter- 
orbital width, and so far back that their distance from 
the tip of the snout measures somewhat more than 2 / 3 
of the length of the head. Their width is about half 
the external diameter of the iris. The gill-openings 
are still smaller than in the Picked Dog-fish. They 
are scarcely larger than the spiracles, or even smaller 
than these. The last three are often set so close to- 
gether that at a casual glance one may fail to distin- 
guish between them, this being the probable explana- 
tion of Rafinesque’s above-mentioned mistake. 
All the fins are extremely thin at the outer mar- 
gin, without scaly covering, and more or less trans- 
parent. They are consequently torn in most cases at 
the said margin, and they are seldom seen so entire as 
in our figure, which is drawn from a newly caught 
specimen in a good state of preservation. 
The dorsal fins are distinguished by the posterior 
being considerably larger than the anterior and having 
about twice as large a spine. The first dorsal fin com- 
mences at the end of the first third of the body, the 
second somewhat before the end of the second third 
thereof. The form of the first dorsal calls to mind 
tha/t of the adipose fin in the Salmonoids, the second 
is more typically a Shark fin, with concave outer pos- 
terior margin. The caudal fin, as a whole, is sickle- 
shaped, with the usual sinuses in the under margin 
only subindicated. The laterally compressed tip of the 
tail forms a slight upward curve within it. From the 
beginning of the upper lobe the caudal fin measures 
rather more than l / 5 , from that of the lower lobe rather 
less than 1 / i , of the entire length of the body. 
The insertion of the obtusely rounded pectoral fins 
commences at a distance from the tip of the snout 
measuring somewhat more than Vs °f the length of the 
body. Their length is about 8 — 8 x / 2 0/0 of that of the 
“ See for example above, p. 155, on the Blue-mouth. 
body or 43 — 54 % of that of the head; and the breadth 
of their base is about 52 — 56 % of their length. The 
ventral fins are elongated, with the outer angle strongly 
rounded. Their insertion, which measures about 87 2 
— 9 3 / 4 % of the length of the body, begins at a distance 
from the tip of the snout answering to about 54—56 % 
of the said length. The pterygopodia of the fully ma- 
ture males — figured by Dumeril, 1 . c., Pi. 4, fig. 13 — 
have before the tip three curved and pointed spines, two 
of which — the outermost being mobile — are set at 
the outer margin of the cleft on the upper side of these 
organs, the third being hidden in the skin near the top 
of the inner tegumentary margin of the cleft. Tile 
cloacal aperture occupies about the posterior half of 
the space between the ventral fins. 
The scaly armature we have already noticed. The 
lateral line is sometimes quite distinct, marked by a 
black punctuation, and following a rather straight course, 
near the back, until it comes within the region of the 
caudal fin, where it crooks downwards to follow the 
inferior margin of the tip of the tail and pass straight 
out over the fin itself. 
The coloration is distinguished from that of the 
preceding Sharks first and foremost by its being darkest 
on the ventral side; and from this black colour a stripe 
ascends on each side behind the ventral fins and ex- 
pands both forwards, above the said fins, and backwards 
on the sides of the tail. Another similar stripe runs 
up before the beginning of the inferior caudal lobe and 
spreads along the lower part of the tip of the tail. The 
termination of the lateral line is also marked by a fine, 
coal-black streak along the under margin of the tip of 
the tail. The blackish blue colour of the back and 
sides acquires along the middle of the latter a more 
or less distinct silvery band, due to the grayish lustre 
of the setiform scales. The iris has a greenish metallic 
lustre; the pupil is green. The dorsal fin-spines and 
the teeth, as well as the outer parts of the eyes, are 
conspicuously marked by their white colour. 
The Sagre is strictly a deep-sea fish, and it con- 
sequently shares with several other fishes" the pecu- 
liarity of having been found in widely separated loca- 
lities without being discovered in the interjacent regions. 
Thus it was first described by Willughby from the 
Mediterranean, where it was already known — more 
than three hundred years ago — to the Genoese fisher- 
