72 AUSTRALIAN ZOOLOGY. 
people on the rocks at Coogee Bay noticed a shoal of tiger sharks 
disporting themselves in the water a short distance from the shore. 
Some of the Aquarium employees set lines, and in the course of a 
few hours three of these monsters were hooked, Several young men 
went from Townsville in the summer of 1891 on a fishing excursion 
to Cape Marlow. While they were in the water with a drag-net, 
about 100 yards from the beach, the water being ubout 4 feet deep, 
they noticed two large sharks making for them. All made for the 
shore, and got out of danger except one, who, being at the end of 
the net towards the open sea, was unable to escape. He, however, 
with great presence of mind, dodged round the net, and eluded one 
of the monsters, which entangled itself in the net. ‘The second 
shark came within 3 yards of him, but swam off again. They were 
of the hammer-headed species. The one, which became enveloped 
in the net, was unable to escape, though it struggled till it was half- 
dead. In this state, it was hauled to the shore; it measured 13 
feet. An old bullet was found lodged in its body. 
Species of sharks which frequent or occasionally visit Australian 
seas :—l. The white shark, found in Port Jackson and Port Phillip, 
2. The hammer-headed shark (Zygana malleus); it is met with 
along the coasts of Queensland and near Sydney, it is identical with 
that of the Mediterranean. 3. The thresher, or long-tailed shark 
(Alopecias vulpes). The name thresher arises from the habit this fish 
has of giving loud-sounding blows to whales, and other large bodies 
in the sea, with its long slender tail, as a thresher does with his 
flail. The Newcastle Herald, July, 1895, says :—‘‘ Those on board 
the Saxonia witnessed a most interesting encounter between a 
thresher and an enormous whale, off Bird Island. The steamer ran 
up close to the scene, but the combatants were too much engaged to 
make off till the vessel was almost up to them. Then the whale 
started off in a north-easterly direction, followed by the thresher. 
Encounters between these enemies of the deep are frequently seen 
off the coast and are watched with great interest. The upper lobe 
of its tail, which is eatirely of cartilage, about equals the whole 
body in length. It is one of the rare sharks of the Australian 
waters. Specimens have occasionally been caught on the New 
Zealand coast. In England it is commonly called the fox shark, 
In April, 1891, a thresher was caught by some fishermen, in Spring 
Cove, Manly. It became entangled in the meshes of their net On 
being hauled to land, it was found to measure 14 feet, the tail 
being 7 feet, it was purchased by the Curator of the Sydney 
museum. In 1879 one was shot near the Heads, it measured 8 feet. 
4. The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) ; it was supposed to be 
confined to the northern hemisphere till one was found entangled in 
the nets of some fishermen. Having wrapped the nets round itself 
by rolling and struggling it had become exhausted. This specimen, 
which was 304 feet long, was caught in 1883 off the coast of Port- 
land, in Victoria. It is quite harmless. 5. The spinous shark 
(Echinorhinus spinosus) ; it is a sluggish ground shark ; none, as 
yet, have been found near Sydney; the one in the museum was 
