22 BROOKLYN MUSEUM SCIENCE BULLETIN 3. I. 
" Sand shark " is a name more or less loosel\- ai)])lied b>- fishermen, 
but this common species, a somewhat heavier, clumsier fish than the 
smooth dogfish, is easily recognized by its white catlike teeth with cusi)s 
at their bases, its large subequal dorsal fins, and the fact that it is 
si)otted. It is a summer resident along the coast from Cape Cod to Cai)e 
Lookout, N. C, and common in the bays and along the beaches of the 
south shore of Long Lsland from June to October, sometimes entering the 
mouths of streams. 
Sand sharks with eggs still unri])e ha\-e been taken at Woods Hole, 
Mass., on July lo. The species is a nuisance to fishermen because it 
bites a hook readil\' and also destro>s nets. In the Great South Bay it 
is often .seen swimming .slowly near the surface. It eats lob.sters, crabs, 
and squids, but the greater part of its food consists of fishes'' (flatfish, 
eel, weakfish, mullet, ])orgy, etc. ). 
Concerning the habits of this species at Cape Lookout, Mr. Ru.ssell 
J. Coles'" writes as follows : 
" This shark works in a more systematic wa\" in .securing its food 
than an\- shark of which I know. On one occa.sion I saw a school of a 
hundred or more surround a school of blue-fish and force them into a 
solid ma.ss in .shallow water, and then at the same instant the entire 
.school of sharks dashed in on the blue-fish. On another occa.sion with a 
large school of blue-fish in ni}- net, a .school of the.se .sharks attacked it 
from all sides and ate or liberated the .school of blue-fish, practically ruin- 
ing the net. Again in Jul\', 1914, on Lookout Shoals, I had a large net 
filled with Ijlue-fish attacked by a .school of about 200 of the.se \icit)us 
sharks and the net ruined. I killed about twent> of them with harpoon 
and lance. " 
14. mackhri-:l shark 
Is/in/s dckavi ( Gill ) 
Jordan and Evennann, p. 48. 
/stinis figris, Garnian, p. 36. 
Fir.st dor.sal fin oppo.sile the space between the pectoral and xiiilral fins, ahont 
midway ])etween the two. Second dorsal and anal fins very small. Candal fin firm, 
lunate. A horizontal keel on the caudal peduncle. Gill openinj.(s nieasurinjj; one half 
the depth of the body or less. Teeth large, slender, and sharj), witliout serrations or 
basal cusps. Dark bluish gray above, white below. Length m feel. 
1907. Field, /. c. 
Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. XWIII, 1915, ]). qi. 
