. Zoology. Zoology. THE SB ARKS. 146 Order 1. Plagiostomi.—Our most common shark is the mackerel shark [Isunis punctatus, Fig. 186). It is from four to eight feet in length, and is often taken in fish-nets, being a snrface-swimmer. In the thresher shark [Alopecias vulpes), the upper lobe of the tail is nearly as long as the body of the shark itself. It grows twelve or fifteen feet in length, and lives on the high seas of the Atlantic. Nearly twice the size of the thresher is the great basking shark, Selache maxima, of the North Atlantic, which be- comes nine to thirteen meti'es (thirty or fort
. Zoology. Zoology. THE SB ARKS. 146 Order 1. Plagiostomi.—Our most common shark is the mackerel shark [Isunis punctatus, Fig. 186). It is from four to eight feet in length, and is often taken in fish-nets, being a snrface-swimmer. In the thresher shark [Alopecias vulpes), the upper lobe of the tail is nearly as long as the body of the shark itself. It grows twelve or fifteen feet in length, and lives on the high seas of the Atlantic. Nearly twice the size of the thresher is the great basking shark, Selache maxima, of the North Atlantic, which be- comes nine to thirteen meti'es (thirty or forty feet) in lengtli. It has very large gill-slits, and is by no means as ferocious as most sharks, since it lives on small fishes, and. FiQ. 187.—Carcharias. From Ltttken's Zoology. in part, probably, on small animals, straining them into its throat through a series of rays or fringes of an elas- tic, hard substance, but brittle when bent too much, and arranged like a comb along the gill-openings, the teeth being very small. Among the smaller sharks is the dog-fish (Squalus Ameri- canus), distinguished by the sharp spine in front of each of the two dorsal fins. It is caught in great numbers for the oil which is extracted from its liver. The dog-shark {Mustelus canis), which is a little larger than the dog-fish, becoming over a metre (four feet) long, brings forth its young alive. The hammer-headed shark is so called from the head projecting far out on each side, the eyes being situated m the end of each Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Packard, A. S. (Alpheus Spring), 1839-1905. N. Y. , Holt
Size: 2581px × 968px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1897
