A NEW SHARK.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13603, 25 May 1908, Page 6

A NEW SHARK.

SH.A r LIKE A PORPOISE. CAt r OFF ST. ANDREWS. Shark i j so common in the neighbouring ocei;. aind ave so frequency hnokfd by §»h' • n when they wfntfd rather be hooking net.hing e'.:-e. that th;> rapture of a u ► : ■ is only worth mentioning in print "' n the circxtmstance* or the species : uncommon. The .atter was the ca vtth a shark caught yesterday afternoo ; bout 24 miles S.E. "from limaru b Messrs Oddte >«nd McCormack, who. wt . rtshing for groper in the oil launch r atsora. Tlie shack n»v»«te a tough fit..... and thv two men had tm spend a n■■•pie of hoar.- over it Ik-fore getting it ..'■'> the boiit, and i: va--. sfjuirming i.,, a long time after chat . 'lite capture app.atct worih the trouble. as it was iaic a novrtty to ttteat. being as much like a porpoise as a shark. Us form and colonr rewmbt ■ tho.'tof a |w>rpoise, i-.ii.i u\t>vr. remarkable still. Irs tail is fluked horizontally .tn>tead of vertically; and th,- ttttkes jue nearly „t «f{naE length. This, and the whr.fi- .-"hap»: of the lx)dy, which is comparative ty short, and the torpedo Iwad. sitgge>t tha't this shark has be.n con.-.trttcti'.t' >r> that il> might pretend io be a porpoi>e. Anv hsherman glancing it ,t it from a littlt- ili."tance would dtcla't- ir to> be ;i potpot.-e. Large gilt *lit>. and ehagrern -kin. -however, '"give it away" a* a shark on clow examination. "t Lie bociv tapers away gradually arid gracefully from a back-tin, about 10 inches high, to a :dmrppointed snout, very different fii>m th*> shovel-hea.fi of the common local .-hark. The teeth are quite slender spine.-* about half an inch long and nearly «.:■• far apar-, set in a double row. by u«> means a. formidable looking arnnrn'nt. The >k;n r.f the back it, a. I most black, and sitkv A-k when stroked th« right wav. an"l c.>m,pared with other s-harks' "skin, is Fmt faintly rough the other way. T| l( . h,«,v _i* jnst tike that of a porpoi.—• in «.|,;rpj. The tail i» |H.rhap« the- miwt remarkable thing about, this tish. for it i.- twisted from the perpendieutar N> tL*- lu>riz»mtal position. The rtuk-s are nearly ...f thsamt; length irntead of on.,- b.-'ing verr murfi longer 'than the other, and" the'v measure about 15 inches from tip to tip. The twist shows plainly, as a tow min-

along the back curves round sharply with one fluke; a similar ridge does the same below; and a second ridge curving with each make* a neat and conspicuous groove on each side. Altogether it is a remarkable kind of -»bark. Its captors propose to exhibit it to-day, probably on the north mole reclamation.