THE BASKING SHARK. 
253 
This individual agrees in every character with the M. stellatus as described by 
Risso,* Hist. Nat. 1’ Eur. Merid., tom. iii. p. 126. Mr. Yarrell’s figure of M. 
Icevis (vol. ii. p. 393) is a very good representation of this fish. The present 
individual differs from it in having a close row of spots along the lateral line, 
and both lobes at the base of the caudal fin conspicuously displayed, the ante- 
rior one nearly as much so as in the preceding figure of Galeus vulgaris in the 
same work. 
“ The specimen under description is a female. The stomach was filled with 
brachyurous Crustacea, including a perfect and full-grown Corystes Cassive- 
lanus. 
“ Other specimens of Mustelus Icevis that I have examined, and which were 
about the same size as the one described, were similar in the characters above 
given ; this is mentioned as showing that the white spots above the lateral line 
are not peculiar to the young fish. See Yarrell, B. F., vol. ii. p. 394.” [P. 513 
of 2nd edition]. 
Dr. J. L. Drummond procured specimens of this fish at Holy wood 
(Belfast Bay) in 1846, and Dr. Ball has obtained it at Youghal and 
Dublin. 
The Squalus mustelus , Smooth Hound-fish, of Sampson’s Derry cannot, 
I presume, be this species, from the circumstance of his describing “ 5 or 
6 rows of teeth ; ” consequently we must omit “ Londonderry,” given by 
Mr. Yarrell as a station of this fish. There can, however (though it is 
not proved), be no doubt of its occurrence there. 
M‘Skimmin, in his 3rd edition, notes it as rare. In his first edition 
the name Stinkard was applied to it, “ from its leaving a bad smell on 
the hands after handling.” 
The Basking Shark, or Sun-fish, Selachus maximus, Cuv., 
Is taken on the ocean coasts of Ireland, chiefly on the West : I am not 
aware of its occurrence on the eastern side. It is generally known as 
the “ sun-fish,” and is the species so valuable for its oil. 
In Harris’s Down (published 1744) it is stated that — 
“ The coasts of Ireland, especially those in the West, have, of late years, 
been much frequented by Whales and Sun-fish , which come in March or April, 
and stay till November. 
“ They frequent the herring bays in the fishing season, and not only destroy a 
great deal of fish but mar the fishing.” 
The following paragraph appeared in the Derry Sentinel in July, 
1849 : — 
“ A Shark caught in Lough Foyle. — As Messrs. William Gillespie and 
Thomas Lecky, jun., of Longfield, were out behind the Shell Island, on Wed- 
nesday last, fishing plaice, they caught a shark of the species called e squa- 
lus maximus ,’ or, as Pennant names it, £ the basking shark.’ It is evi- 
dently a very young one. It measures 5^ feet long, and 2 feet 2 inches in cir- 
cumference ; the colour of the back is a deep leaden, and that of the belly white ; 
the skin is rough, like shagreen, and the upper part of the jaw and upper part 
of the tail much longer than the lower. The teeth are evidently only beginning 
to grow, and are about \ inch long, in three or four rows. Some of the oldest 
inhabitants of the neighbourhood agree in saying that they never heard of a fish 
of a similar kind being caught in Lough Foyle, and it is very unusual at all to 
see them on the North coast of Ireland.” 
In August, 1840, Dr. G. J. Allman informed me that “ a fine specimen 
of the basking shark was lately entangled in the fishermen’s trammels in 
* The figure of S. Hinnulus in the Faune Franchise shows the identity. 
