54 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Family VIH.-SQUATINIDjE. The angel sharks 
Body, head, and tail depressed and flat; snout obtuse; gill openings wide, partly inferior and 
partty hidden by the base of the pectorals; spiracles wide, crescent-shaped, behind the eyes; nostrils 
on the front margin of the snout, with skinny flaps; mouth terminal or nearly so; teeth rather small, 
far apart, erect; dorsal fins 2, small, subequal, situated on tail behind ventrals; anal fin wanting; 
pectoral fins very large, expanded in the plane of the body, but not attached to the side of the head, 
deeply notched at the base; ventral fins very large; caudal fin small. 
This family of peculiar sharks is intermediate in both structure and general appearance between 
the sharks and rays. 
10. Genus SQUATINA Dumeril. Angel fishes 
The characters of the genus are included in the family description. A single species is indige- 
nous to the Atlantic coast of America. 
11. Squatina dumeril Le Sueur. Nurse fish; Angelfish; Monkfish; Sand devil. 
Squatina dumeril Le Sueur, Journ., Ac. Nat. Sci., Phil., 1, 1818, p. 225, PI. X; probably Florida. 
Squatina squatina Jordan and Evcrmanu (in part), 1896-1900, p. 58. 
Bod}’ depressed throughout; head low, flat, its length to first gill slit 4.9 in total length; snout 
short and broad, the anterior outline slightly concave, 5.65 in head; eye small, 11.7 in head; spiracles 
crescent-shaped, at least as long as eye, situated behind eyes at a distance not quite equal to length 
of snout; interorbital very broad, concave, 2.4 in head; nostrils on anterior margin of snout, with 
skinny flaps, the interspace 3.5 in head; mouth only slightly behind anterior margin of snout, very 
broad, its width 1.5 in head; teeth, 18 in a series in each jaw, rather small, far apart, erect, with 
broad basal shoulders and a sharp median cusp; skin rough, with enlarged tubercles on head and 
snout and with sharp spines on outer margin of the pectoral fins; dermal dentacles in irregular 
rows rather far apart, of unequal size, each consisting of a low, strong, angled spine with a very broad 
base and a rather sharp point; gill slits 5, wide, all posterior to anterior angle of pectoral; pectorals 
broad, expanded, the anterior angle free from the body and not confluent with the head, the length 
of the outer anterior margin of fin 3.4 in total length, the outer posterior angle a right angle, the inner 
lobe of fin round; dorsal fins of about equal size, situated on the tail, far behind ventrals, the base 
of first dorsal 1.45 in distance between dorsals, the base of the second 1.55;. caudal fin posteriorly 
truncate, both lobes pointed, the lower slightly the longer, 1.55 in head; ventral fins inserted opposite 
posterior margin of pectorals, very broad (the claspers in the male specimen at hand — that is, 42^ 
inches long — are 73^ inches in length). 
Color grayish above, pale below. The abdomen, throat, and ventral fins with reddish spots 
in life. 
A single male specimen, 1,080 millimeters (42J^ inches) in length, occurs in the Chesapeake 
Bay collection. This peculiar fish, which has the combined characters of a shark and a ray, is a 
conspicuous form. Years ago it was said to be rather common on the Atlantic coast of Maryland. 
Within Chesapeake Bay, certainly, it is very rare, and none at all were seen or reported during the 
intensive collecting of 1921 and 1922. Lugger (1878, p. 122) says of this animal: “The not very 
inviting looks of this fish are not the only reasons why fishermen dislike it. It has, to some extent, 
the unpleasant habits of the snapping turtle, since it can open its mouth very suddenly, to an 
alarming extent, and not to play, either. In consequence of this biting propensity, it is called by the 
fishermen the ‘sand devil,’ and also the ‘fair maid'; the first name not without any reason and the 
latter certainly not out of politeness.” 
Habitat . — Both sides of the Atlantic and on our Pacific shores, occurring sparingly northward 
on our Atlantic coast to Cape Cod, Mass. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: None. (6) Specimen in collection from Lynn- 
haven Roads, Va., pound net, July 15, 1916. 
