NICHOLS & MURPHY 
LONG LSLAND SHARKS. 
15 
This species is an inhabitant of the teni])erate Atlantic, and the 
commonest lar^^e shark in the latitude of New York. Its known ran^ije 
is from Florida to Cape Cod, and DeKay, in the Zoology of New York 
(1842), states that it had been fre([uentl>' taken in local waters. He 
describes a s]^ecimen over seven feet long, weighing 160 pounds, captured 
at Brenton's Reef, R. I., in vSeptember. 
Four specimens about four feet in length were taken in a fish traj) 
at Woods Hole in August, 1873. Their .stomachs contained amphipod 
crustaceans and remains of fishes. 
Numerous females of the brown shark enter Great .South Bay in 
midsununer to give birth to their young, and may be found there until 
September. The\- frequent the edges of the channels near Fire Island, 
feeding on various species of fi.shes, the flatfish [ Pscitdoplcunvicctes) pre- 
dominating. \^ery probably they employ their sense of smell in discover- 
ing these concealingly-colored fishes as they lie on the bottom. Crabs, 
lobsters, skates, weakfish, young mackerel, menhaden, etc., also make 
u]) ]mrt of this shark's food. 
The brown .shark is in evidence about Block Island fn)m Ma\- until 
November, and it is perhaps the onl\- large shark that enters the small 
bays on the north shore of Long Lsland. During .several recent summers, 
sharks probabl>' of this species, accompanied b\- pilot fish, have been 
seen at Mt. Sinai Harbor, where the\- have created unwarranted conster- 
nation among the bathers. It is onl\- occasionalh- that one catches sight 
of the fin and tail of the brown shark, as for in.stance when it crosses a 
bar, becau.se it generall\- keeps below the surface, a characteristic of the 
littoral, as oppo.sed to the ])elagic, sj^ecies. " 
