The Carpet-Shark.
Nature Notes
By
James Drummond. F.L.S., F.Z.S.
T HE HANDSOMEST SHARK in New Zealand waters is the carpet-shark. It is about three feet six inches long, has r broad, flat head, a short, rounded snout and a. very large mouth. Above, it is light brown, blotched and mottled with irregular markings, which give it the appearance of a rich carpet. Its skin would provide a good carpet design. It belongs to a group whose members, in other seas at least, inflate their stomachs witn air and float on the surface stomacu upward. Mr E. R. Waite, a former curator of Canterbury Museum, trawling off the New Zealand coast, caught fourteen carpet-sharks. All were distended by inflation of their stomachs with water. When one of the stomachs was pierced with a penknife, a jet of water spurted out several feet. It is thought that these carpet-sharks, being caught in the trawl, were unable to reach the surface in order to imbibe air, and filled their stomachs with water instead.
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Bibliographic details
Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 370, 11 March 1932, Page 6
Word Count
170The Carpet-Shark. Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 370, 11 March 1932, Page 6
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