BULLETIN No. 140

Distribution of �lA\�0c{

'---

ATLANTIC

(with Special Reference to !N ewfoundland Waters)

By Wilfred T�lmpleman

Fisheries Research Board of 'Canada· OHawa ·1963

Fisheries Research Board oj' Canada Bulletin No. 140-The distribution sharks in the Canadian Atlantic (with special reference to Newfoundla waters). By \VILFRED TEMPLK\L\N .

.r-Err atun--:-"'\ ease note that the pictures [or Figures 24 and 28 have been

advertently transposed. That is, the legend of Figure 24 refers to t picture shown on page 38, and the legend of Figure 28 refers to the pictl on page 31.

69554-4-1

SHARKS IN NEWFOUNDLAND WATERS

Editor:

J. C. STEVENSON

Associate Editor:

E. G. BLIGH

Fisheries Research Board of Canada

Sir Charles Tupper Building

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

BULLETIN No. 140

DISTRIBUTION OF SHARKS in the CANADIAN ATLANTIC

(With SPecial Reference to Newfoundland Waters)

by

Wilfred Templeman Fisheries Research Board of Canada

Biological Station, St. John's, Nfld.

Issued by the FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA

under the control of the Honourable the Minister of Fisheries

Ottawa, 1963

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Price subject to change without notice

ROGER DUHAMEL, F.R.S.C. Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery

Ottawa, Canada

1963

BULLETINS OF THE FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA are published from time to time to present popular and scientific information concerning fishes and some other aquatic animals ; their environment and the biology of their stocks ; means of capture ; and the handling, processing and utilizing of fish and fishery products.

In addition , the Board publishes the following :

An ANNUAL REPORT of the work carried on under the direction of the Board.

The JOURNAL OF THE FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA, containing the results of scientific investigations.

All publications of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada still in print are available from the Queen's Printer. Bulletin No. 1 1 0 is an index and list of pub­l ications of the Board to the end of 1954 and is priced at $1 .00 per copy post­paid. Circular No. 58 , available free upon request from the Fisheries Research Board, Ottawa, lists its publications during 1955-1960.

For a listing of recent issues of the above publications see inside of back cover.

v 69554-4-2

ABSTRACT

This Bulletin attempts to bring together all authenticated published records and as far as possible to list new records and discuss the distribution in the Canadian area of sharks occurring in the Newfoundland area.

Alopias vulpinus and Carcharodon carcharias are occasional summer visitors. Cetorhinus maximus was formerly usually scarce or absent in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence and in northeastern Newfoundland waters but now is not uncommon in summer as far west and north as the Gaspe Peninsula and occasionally present as far east and north as Fogo Island. The Newfound­land specimens are usually large. Lamna nasus is common and present in com­mercial quantities in the southern part of the Newfoundland area and on the Newfoundland banks in summer and some adults including females with young are present on southwestern Grand Bank in winter. Three separate captures of egg cases tentatively identified as Apristurus projundorum extend the known range of this species, previously recorded northward to the south­western Scotian Shelf, to the southwestern Grand Bank. Pri01taCe glauca is found and is probably common in August-September on the southern part of the Newfoundland area. Centroscyllium jabricii is relatively common from mainly below 250 fathoms (460 m) on the continental slope of the whole Canadian area as far northward as 65°12'N, 58°13'W. Etmopterus princeps occurs on the continental slope off southern Nova Scotia but has not yet been found in the Newfoundland area. Centroscymnus coelolepis, formerly found and thought to be moderately plentiful on the southwestern slope of the Grand Bank and on the seaward slope of the Scotian Shelf now appears to be scarce in the Canadian area, with only one new record (from the Scotian Shelf) during the past 80 years. Somniosus microcephalus is common in many parts of the eastern Arctic and as far southward as northeastern Newfoundland in winter. Southward of this and in summer it is commonest on the eastern slope of the Northeast Newfoundland Shelf. Further southward occasional specimens are caught usually on seaward slopes of the banks and from the western part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and there are many records as far southward as the Gulf of Maine. Squalus acanthias occurs in large numbers in summer and autumn on the south coast of Newfoundland and in late spring to early summer in mod­erate numbers on southwestern Grand Bank and in great numbers on north­western St. Pierre Bank. These dogfish migrate northward around the whole coast of Newfoundland and occasionally to southern Labrador in numbers varying greatly with the years. The young are not born in the Newfoundland area, as the pregnant females migrate back to the United States area in late autumn and liberate their young before returning northward. Some smaller spiny dogfish remain overwinter in the Newfoundland area and are occasion­ally killed by cold water.

VI

CONTENTS

PAGE

ABSTRACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

LAMNIDAE-MACKEREL SHARKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre) 1 788-Thresher Shark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus) 1 758-White Shark... . . . . . . . . . . 3

Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus) 1 765-Basking Shark . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Lamna nasus (Bonnaterre) 1 788-Porbeagle, Mackerel Shark. . . . . . 12

SCYLIORHINIDAE-CAT SHARKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Apristurus profundorum (Goode and Bean) 1895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

CARCHARHINIDAE-REQUIEM SHARKS.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Prionace glauca (Linnaeus) 1 758-Blue Shark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

SQUALIDAE-DOGFISH SHARKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Centroscyllium fabricii (Reinhardt) 1 825-Black Dogfish. . . . . . . . . . . 29

Etmopterus princeps Collett 1904 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Centroscymnut coelolepis Bocage and Capello 1 864-Portuguese Shark. . . .. . . . . ....... ......... . . . . . ...... ................ . 35

Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch and Schneider) 1 801-Greenland Shark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Squalus acanthias Linnaeus 1 758-Spiny Dogfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

REFERENCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

ApPENDIX-TABLES I-Xl . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,...... 53

Vll 69554-4-2i

74' 72' 70' 68' 66' 64' 62' 60' 58' 56' 54' 52'

"v �-Os 0", S)-1?41)-

/'

62'

� D rl..

60'

8 A Y

FIG, 1. Map showing location of places mentioned in the text,

50' 48'

1 CHANCE COVE 2 BELLEVUE 3 HARBOUR GRACE 4 COlEYS POINT 5 PORT OE GRAVE 6 ST. THOMAS 7. ST. PHilLIPS a PORTUGAL COVE

28. 01G8Y 29. DIGBY GUT 30, SCOTSMAN BAY 31. MINAS BASIN

46'

9. BELL ISlA�D 10. FLATRQCK I I . SUGAR LOAF 12. CUCKOLO'S COVE 13. ST. JOHN'S 14. BLACK HEAD 15. CAPE SPEAR 16. PETTY HARBOUR

32. CUMBERLAND BASIN

44'

62'

60'

I t, 48' �

�". �, 47' � I��

46'

44'

42'

INTRODUCTION

There has been no review of shark distribution in the Newfoundland area since the publication of the lists of fishes of the Newfoundland F:-isheries Research Laboratory at Bay Bulls (Anon. 1932, 1933 and 1935) , apart from the paper on the spiny dogfish by Templeman ( 1944) and the review of available shark data by Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) . Meanwhile many records have accumu­lated from exploratory fishing by the research vessels of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Investigator II, A. T. Cameron and Marinus, from commercial vessels and from shore and other records.

In carrying out the original intention of describing the present status of information on the distribution of sharks in the Newfoundland area it was found wise and even necessary to review the distribution of these fishes in the whole eastern Canadian area and in many cases to outline the distribution in areas adjacent to the Canadian area.

Consequently as far as possible Canadian records up to 1961 have been provided except for the very abundant spiny and black dogfishes. Only readily available 1962 records have been included. Records from United States Pas­samaquoddy Bay localities such as Eastport have been added to the Canadian records, but United States l iterature has not been searched to the same extent as Canadian and consequently some of these records from the American side of Passamaquoddy Bay have probably not been found. The centre of the Fundian Channel is the dividing line between Canadian and United States areas as de­fined.in this paper. Northward of the Fundian Channel the Canadian area is taken to include the Continental Shelf with its banks and seaward slope and the eastern Canadian Arctic.

Additionally records of Etmopterus princeps from the Scotian Shelf area are presented although as yet there are no records of this species from the New­foundland area.

In her list of marine fishes found in Newfoundland waters Frost (1938) includes the smooth dogfish, Mustelus canis (Mitchill) ; the hammerhead shark, Sphyrna zygaena (Linnaeus) ; and the sharp-nosed mackerel shark, Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque. We have not found references to authentic records for any of these and therefore have not included them as occurring in the Newfound­land area.

Figure 1 shows the location of places mentioned in the text.

1

LAMN IDAE-MACKEREL SHARKS

Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre) 1 788 Thresher Shark

The thresher is not uncommon off southern New England in the Block Island-Woods Hole region and at least in some years threshers enter the Gulf of Maine in fair numbers. It is a pelagic shark of at least moderately warm waters (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1948) .

There are very few authentic Canadian records of the thresher-only 3 from the western mouth of the Bay of Fundy and our 3 new records from New­foundland (Fig. 2, Table 1).

The thresher, with a caudal fin as long as the remainder of the body, is a very unusual shark in appearance, and consequently most of the numerous general notes on its occurrence in the Canadian area are likely to be correct since no other western Atlantic shark resembles it even superficially, except the big-eyed thresher, Alopias superciliosus (Lowe) , which cannot be expected to occur so far north. Some of these general references, however, which as a rule give evidence of only hearsay information, are copied from author to author, being varied a little and gaining greater apparent authenticity with each copying.

Hatton and Harvey (1883) say that the fox shark or thresher is only seen occasionally in Newfoundland waters.

50°

FIGURES INDICATE LENGTHS OF THRESHER SHARK IN FEET AND OF ETMOPTERUS PRINCEPS IN CENTIMETRES

! 60'

I , I , I ! W I , I ! I

'�\ "") ) 45" , , -\ I I

FIG. 2. Records of the thresher shark, AlojJias vuijJinus and of Elmoplerus princeps from the Canadian area.

2

Perley (1852) says that the thresher is a great enemy to the small whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, that in Bay Chaleur and the lower part of the River St. Lawrence it is often seen attacking whales and that in its attacks it is most perservering; the whale may be often seen to spring quite out of the water and make the sea foam from the torment he endures.

This note of Perley's forms the basis of recognition of the Gulf of St. Law­rence as within the range of the thresher by Austin (1866) , Cox (1896) , Halkett (1913) , Bigelow and Schroeder (1948, 1953) , Bergeron ( 1960) and Vladykov and McAllister (1961 ) .

The myth regarding the thresher attacking whales i n the Gulf of St. Lawrence cannot, however, be taken as a record . It appears very likely that the custom of humpback whales during the mating season (Scammon, 1874) of beating each other with their long flippers may produce the commotion attri­buted to the thresher and that this was the performance accepted by Perley as evidence of the presence of threshers. Therefore, although in view of their occurrence in Newfoundland waters it would not be surprising to find a thresher in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is our conclusion that there is at present no record , authentic or otherwise, of a thresher in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Jones (1882) , in his list of the fishes of Nova Scotia, says that the thresher is occasionally taken in fishing nets and that there is a fine specimen of the thresher in the collection of King's College, Windsor, N .S. Presumably this is from Nova Scotia but Jones says nothing on this subject. This record has evi­dently been lost as, on inquiry, neither King's College School at Windsor nor King's College at Halifax have any information on this specimen, nor is it now in existence.

Piers (1934) says that the thresher is not often found off Nova Scotia. Vladykov and McKenzie (1935) say that the thresher is not uncommon in

summer on the Atlantic banks (off Nova Scotia) and in the Bay of Fundy.

Perley (1852) says that in pursuit of shad threshers of large size are fre­quently taken both in Cumberland Bay and Minas Basin at the head of the Bay of Fundy.

Bousfield and Leim (1959) for Minas Basin report the thresher as not seen by the authors but reliably reported for Scotsman Bay and Parrsboro.

There are apparently no records of the thresher for Labrador, Hudson Strait, Dngava Bay, Hudson Bay and Greenland. It is not recorded from Ice­land in Saemundsson (1949) and Mr. J6n J6nsson (private communication, September 3, 1962) says that to his knowledge there has been no record of this shark from Icelandic waters.

Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus) 1 758 White Shark

The white shark, according to Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) , is widespread in tropical, subtropical and warm temperature belts of all the oceans, is exceed­ingly irregular in its occurrence and is nowhere abundant.

3

A white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (L.) , was caught by the Spanish trawler Santa Ines in August 1956 on southeastern Grand Bank (Fig. 3) and reported to us by Dr Alfonso Rojo who also supplied photographs and jaws with teeth (Fig. 4-7) .

In Fig. 3 , although the caudal fin is missing from the photograph, the position and shape of the other fins are those of a typical Carcharodon carcharias. The more triangular upper and more angular and more pointed lower teeth and the declining tooth size from the centre to the angle of the jaw may be noted best in Fig. 4-6. There is little decrease in size in the first 6 rows from the centre of the upper jaw. In the lower jaw there is a more rapid decrease in size from the centre toward the angle of the jaw. The third upper tooth from the centre, how­ever, is the smallest of the first 6 teeth on each side both in this specimen and in the 2 sets of teeth of this species featured by Bigelow and Schroeder (1948).

FIG. 3. Lateral and dorsal views of a white shark caught by the Spanish ottel­trawler Santa Ines August 1956, southeastern Grand Bank.

4

The succession of teeth is very clearly evident in Fig. 6. Here, although they cannot all be seen in the photograph, in addition to the row in front there are at least 3 additional rows of well formed teeth in succession behind the front row.

The tooth formula of this specimen was 13 .13 agreeing with that given by

12 . 12 Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) for the species.

Four approximations of the length of this specimen, based on median length of the largest upper and lower teeth compared with the length of similar teeth from Bigelow and Schroeder (1948, fig. 20) , and assuming a direct relation­ship between tooth length and fish length, gave lengths of 12-15 feet (370-460 cm) .

FIG. 4. Jaws ( X 0.23) of the white shark of Fig. 3.

5 69554-4-3

On August 10, 1956 another specimen, estimated by fishermen who caught the shark as being about 12 feet (3 70 cm) long, was entangled in a cod trap leader at 14 fathoms (26 m) at Ireland Bight, Hare Bay, Newfoundland. Two upper teeth sent us from this shark were identified as those of the white shark. This identification was checked by Dr E. Trewavas of the British Museum of Zoology who also wrote that the tooth was large enough compared with that of a British M useum specimen of 8! feet (260 cm) to make it likely that it could belong to a 12-foot (3 70 cm) individual of this species.

Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) report the most northerly record of this species as St. Pierre Bank (Putnam, 1874) . Of 26 Canadian records (Fig. 8 , Table II) , 3 are from the Newfoundland area, 10 from the Gulf of St . Lawrence, 5 from the outer coast of Nova Scotia and 8 (including the record in 1872 from Eastport, Maine) from the Bay of Fundy. Additionally, Melan<;on (1958) says that a C. carcharias measuring 25 feet (760 cm) was taken in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1 935. We have not been able to find a record of this capture.

FIG. 5. Upper jaws ( X 0.32) of the white shark of Fig. 3.

6

FIG. 6. Lower jaws (X 0.34) of the white shark of Fig. 3.

FIG. 7. First 3 teeth (X 1 . 1 ) of left side of upper jaw of the white shark of Fig. 3.

7 69554-4-3�

Our specimens therefore add 2 new records considerably further north and east than the only previous record from the Newfoundland area, the St. Pierre Bank record of 1 873-74.

There is no record of this shark from the Northwest Atlantic north of New­foundland, nor from the Icelandic area, at least it is not mentioned by Saemunds­son (1949) and Mr J6n J6nsson (private communication , September 3 , 1962) says that as far as he knows this shark has never been found in Icelandic waters.

n' ee" ".

WHITE SHARK 6 JANUARY 0 MAY 0- FEBRUARY 0- JUNE

Q MARCH � JULY -0 APRIL -0 AUGUST

• SEPTEMBER 52' • OCTOBER l ' NOVEMBER

-e DECEMBER ". .A MONTH UNKNOWN

l 9 -01 c<or-- <�--.T-.>.J'_o- <-� �1 I O

.

;ft <--., �«<� ;;:_�:

, /.1 '/ ,,�- "�"_' f <:'J�7// i •. <-'-<-•• ,.-.

';8" r l/' /�S��; ",! � 't

l /? ./ <(1.7 ". -tij

··ff ,t 4'1"

,../ ,-�,

,fi"/Z';) ---'J

r /";'> ) /�.

¢{

-";F>

1 >t- ' r -

--- .

:j' :'.)' ... _

.-:-.,.

-=-->::--- .'

". n'

.-_/-FIGURES INDICATE SHARK LENGTHS IN FEET

I ! ! 62' ! ! I 60'

I , I ! ! 58' 5&°

50'

I ! I ! !

FIG. 8. Records of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, from the Canadian area.

Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus) 1 765 Basking Shark

There has been no review of the basking shark (Fig. 9 and 10) of the western Atlantic since Bigelow and Schroeder ( 1948) , in view of the paucity of records, were able to say : "There is no reason to suppose that the basking shark ever occurred, other than as a stray, north of about 44° to 45°N in the western North Atlantic, there being only 4 positive records of it from the southern part of New­foundland: 1 from the outer coast of Nova Scotia, 3 from the Bay of Fundy and a few from the vicinity of Eastport, Maine at the mouth of that bay." Actually Bigelow and Schroeder's records from the southern part of Newfoundland should

8

probably be reduced to 3 since what we have interpreted as a single record (Anon. , 1935) of a basking shark "from Petty Harbour, near St. John's" (Fig. 9) has been interpreted by these authors as a record from each of these 2 localities.

The situation has changed radically in recent years and there are now 61 Newfoundland records and 47 from the Canadian Atlantic area other than New­foundland (Fig. 1 1 and Table III). Additionally an observed group of about 30 basking sharks was reported by Backus (1960) from the seaward slope of the southern part of the Scotian Shelf. It is presumably an individual of this species also, that Reeks (1871) reports as being captured on the west coast of Newfound­land with a liver said to have filled 10 barrels. No other common Newfoundland shark is likely to have a liver of this size. A study of the location of these occur­rences of basking sharks indicates that the presence of Fisheries Research Board of Canada Stations at St. Andrews, Halifax and St. John's and of the Biological

FIG. 9. Basking shark, 32 feet (980 em) long from eodtrap at Petty Harbour, 1934 (from Anon., 1935).

9

FIG. 10. Teeth (natural size) of a basking shark about 25 feet (760 em) long from Littleport, Bay of Islands, July 24, 1954.

BASKING SHARK

! _ L

_ UP TO 30 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

1 1 1 , 1 60"

FIGURES INDICATE SHARK LENGTHS IN FEET

1 l 1 I i 1, 1 1 ! J , , 56" 54"

J,w , , , L _ ! __ �, __ I _._1'10"

50" 48�

FIG. 11. Records of the basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, from the Canadian area.

10

Station of the Quebec Department of Fisheries at Grande-Riviere, Gaspe, has probably resulted in most of the captures of large sharks near these areas being noted. Increased biological field work, interest in fish species, better communi­cations and greater use of photography have all played a part in the rapidly increasing number of records of this and other shark species. Even allowing for all these factors, however, it is likely that there were many more basking sharks in the Maritimes area after 1930 and in the Newfoundland area after 1946 in the period of increased warming of these northern areas. The new Newfoundland records extend the range northward to Fogo, Notre Dame Bay and Brent's Cove near La Scie and westward in Newfoundland to Bay of Islands.

The numbers and regularity of records of the occurrence of the basking shark in Newfoundland inshore waters in recent years are now so great that this species can no longer be considered as a stray in this area. For many of the larger basking sharks of the Northwest Atlantic , Newfoundland must be a regular extension of their summer range.

In the Canadian Atlantic area apart from Newfoundland the records are (omitting Backus offshore records in late June) from July-September (with 2 in June in the Gulf of St. Lawrence) and in the Newfoundland area are almost all in July and early August with only one in June, one sight record in late August and another in September.

These are large plankton-feeding sharks spending much time at or near the surface and are thus caught when they become entangled in floating nets. Most salmon nets in the Newfoundland area are taken up by July and cod traps as a rule by early August. Hence in this region there is no fishing gear in the water likely to entangle these sharks after August and relatively little after July. I t i s likely, therefore, that basking sharks are present in equal abundance in August and possibly early September without being captured. The recorded captures are probably only a small proportion of the actual captures, especially in the years of relative lack of field activity and of interest in fish species by the research stations and in areas distant and isolated from the stations and their field activities.

Vladykov and McAllister (1961) describe this species as rare for Quebec. There are, however, about 25 records from the Gulf, all since 1952 (except one small individual observed by Audubon in 1833) , and mostly from the vicinity of the Station Biologique Marine de Grande-Riviere. Mr Pierre BruneI (private communication October 15 , 1962) says that Gaspe fishermen have told him that basking sharks were never seen in the Gaspe fishing area before 1952. The number of sightings , according to them, has seemed to increase up to a record year in 1956, and to decrease somewhat in the last couple of years. Sightings were confined to the fishing banks outside Chaleur Bay, no basking sharks having been seen inside this bay where the Grande-Riviere Station's research boat has made many cruises since 1952. The species can no longer be described as rare in the Gaspe area.

There are at present no records of basking sharks from the Canadian area north of Fogo and Brent's Cove, Newfoundland and Little Natashquan in the

1 1

Gulf of St. Lawrence. Backus (1957) for Labrador, Dunbar and Hildebrand (1952) for Ungava Bay and Vladykov (1933) for Hudson Bay do not record the species. Hantzsch (1909 ; in Anderson, 1931) working from Port Burwell and referring to the extreme northeastern part of Labrador, about north of 59°30'N, studied in 1906, says that the sharks of the area belong particularly to the 8-10-m length variety Cetorhinus maximus, as well as the weaker Somniosus microce­phalus. It appears, however, that Hantzsch was reporting his interpretation of hearsay local evidence. Although the considerable length mentioned would be characteristic of the basking shark and makes it possible that basking sharks have occurred there, we do not regard the'le remarks as constituting a definite record of the basking shark in northern Labrador.

Jensen ( 1948) does not record the basking shark from Greenland but Taning (1953) says that this shark has been observed at West Greenland and East Ice­land in our time but not in the previous 150-200 years. Dr Paul Hansen (private communication, January 22, 1963) says that a basking shark 8 m in total length was caught in Godthaab Fjord in August 1951 and that this is the only record for West Greenland . He says, however, that Greenlanders have in many cases reported large sea monsters some of which he is inclined to believe must have been basking sharks. Presumably the August 1951 specimen migrated to West Greenland from the Icelandic area where, according to Saemundsson (1949) it is fairly common off the warmer south and west coasts but rare on the colder northeast and east coasts.

Basking sharks occurring in the Newfoundland area are large. In 53 length records (which, however, include many estimates) only 1 of 1 2 feet (370 cm) from the south coast of Newfoundland is below 22 feet (670 cm) in length where­as 2 of 4 length records from the Gulf of St. Lawrence are 6.5 and 14 feet (200 and 425 cm) and 5 of 19 length records from the Canadian mainland outer coast area are 1 1-16.5 feet (340-500 cm).

Lamna nasus (Bonnaterre) 1 788 Porbeagle, Mackerel Shark

Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) say that in the western Atlantic the por­beagle (Fig. 12) occurs from southern New England to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and to the Newfoundland east coast and southern Grand Bank and is very common on the western side of the Gulf of Maine. Scattergood (1949) says that on the Maine coast the porbeagle is second only in abundance to the spiny dogfish. The porbeagle is to a limited extent a commercial species in the United States and Scattergood says that an average of about 42,000 lb (19,000 kg) of sharks (presumably of this species) have been landed yearly in Maine from 1928-47 and this without any organized fishery for them. The landed catch is probably only a small proportion of the actual catch.

LABRADOR AND NEIGHBOURING AREAS. There is no record of the porbeagle from Labrador in Backus (1957) , from Hudson Bay in Vladykov (1933) , from Ungava Bay in Dunbar and Hildebrand (1952) , nor from Greenland in Jensen

1 2

FIG. 12. A, lateral view, and B, teeth in the jaws of a female porbeagle, about 7 feet (210 cm) long, caught off St. John's, Sept. 9, 1958, and C, teeth (X 1.7) of a male porbeagle 134 cm long from St. John's, No. 10, Nfld., Table IV. (These photographs show a number of the distinctive features of Lamna nasus: the denticles or spurs at the bases of the teeth, the secondary keel on the caudal fin

and less clearly the relative positions of the second dorsal and the anal fins.)

13 69554-4-4

(1948) . Dr Paul Hansen (private communication, January 22, 1963) knows of no record for Greenland. It is not uncommon in the Icelandic area (Saemundsson, 1949) .

NEWFOUNDLAND. Additional to the 4 previously published records of the porbeagle for the Newfoundland area we have presented records of 36 others including 22 porbeagles caught in 1 cruise of the A. T. Cameron in 1960 (Fig. 13 and Table IV) . Most of these are definitely identified as Lamna nasus and for the remainder, identified from newspaper photographs, identification is on the basis that they look like porbeagles in stoutness of body, position of fins, height of first dorsal , shape of tail, presence of secondary caudal keel , etc . , and that no authentic record of the sharp-nosed mackerel shark, Isurus oxyrinchus has yet been obtained from the Newfoundland area.

Doubtless very many additional specimens of this relatively small shark have been captured in the area since they may be taken by all methods of fish­ing-line, trap, gill net and otter trawl . From their small size and the small amount of damage they do to nets, they are not so likely to receive newspaper and radio recognition as the larger basking sharks and they usually cannot be

FIG. 13. Records of the porbeagie, Lamna nasus, from the Canadian area.

14

identified unless they are landed at a place where a scientific observer happens to be present or unless a good photograph is taken of the shark in lateral view.

Our 5 records from near St. John's between 1949 and 1958 (and these certainly do not include very many of the captures at St. John's) indicate tha t this shark is likely to be common during summer on the southern part of the east coast and on the south coast of Newfoundland .

The 3 records from southwestern Grand Bank between January 2 1 and February 10, 1 953-56, from a single St. John's trawler, the Blue Foam, on which all shark records were not systematically collected, show that this shark is not uncommon on this part of the Grand Bank in winter.

On a haddock savings gear trip of the A. T. Cameron, carried out at a single location on the southeast shoal of the Grand Bank in 25-27 fathoms (46-49 m) , July 1 0-19, 1 960 there was an unusual abundance of porbeagles. The area fished is a capelin spawning area and very great quantities of haddock were present feed­ing on capelin and capelin eggs. A porbeagle was caught in each of 7 otter­trawl sets of i-hour duration , about 15 were caught at night by handline and many more could have been caught (Table IV) . These sharks were about 7 feet (2 1 0 cm) long and were feeding on haddock. Usually several porbeagles could be seen at the surface swimming around the ship and picking up haddock escaping from the trawl .

The most northern record in the western Atlantic and apparently the first definite record for the Newfoundland area is that of Jeffers (1932) from Raleigh, Newfoundland in July 1929.

The 4 new winter records (January 21-February 10) in 4 different years from southwestern Grand Bank are noteworthy. Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) state that all records for the western Atlantic (with the exception of one caught off Portland, Maine in January 1 927) have been for the warmer part of the year.

Our offshore records indicate that at least occasionally porbeagles may be very abundant on the southern Grand Bank in summer. They also supply some­what contradictory information to the statement of Bigelow and Schroeder ( 1948) that the onshore-offshore range of this shark is narrow. In summer these sharks progress farther northward, presumably mainly in the warmer surface layer.

A tooth count was obtained for only 1 porbeagle-No. 1 2 of Table IV. There were 28 rows of teeth in the upper jaw and 26 in the lower. This is within the range for upper (24-32) but not within the range of lower teeth (14-20) given for the porbeagle by Bigelow and Schroeder (1948); However, Bigelow and Schroeder (1927) found 28 upper and 26 lower rows of teeth in each of 3 por­beagles from the Gulf of Maine. (Mr W. C. Schroeder (private communication March 1 , 1963) says that the low count for lower teeth noted by Bigelow and Schroeder (1927) is probably an error, and that a porbeagle from 39°46'N, 69°00'W (May 2 1 , 1961) which he has checked recently at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, had 28 upper and 23 lower rows of teeth.)

Eleven embryos have been obtained from a total of 3 porbeagles taken January 2 1-February 10 , in 1953-56 on southwestern Grand Bank (Fig. 14,

15 69554-4-4!

15 and Table V) . These embryos ranged from 40 to 46 em in length and 3 to 6 lb (1 .4-2.7 kg) in weight. The weight of yolk in the stomachs of the largest embryos was twice as great as that of the remainder of the fish and the embryos were not close to birth. For only 1 of the 3 parents (that were caught on February 10, 1955 , Table IV and Fig. 15 ) , was the species actually determined as Lamna nasus by the author. However, relative positions of second dorsal and anal of all these embryos, with the anterior base of the anal slightly in advance of that of the 2nd dorsal, and the presence of a distinct secondary caudal keel (Fig. 15) served to identify them as Lamna nasus and distinguish them from Isurus oxyrinchus. No basal denticles could be found on the teeth in the embryos shown in Fig. 14 and 15 , but Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) say that this is normal for

A

B FIG. 14. A, dorsal and B, lateral views of Lamna nasus embryo, 40 em long, 4.3 lb (2.0 kg), 1 of 3 from a female porbeagle about 8 feet (240 em) long, taken by the trawler Blue Foam on the southwestern

Grand Bank, Feb. 7, 1953.

1 6

the embryonic young of the porbeagle. Shann ( 191 1 ) observed a porbeagle embryo 6 1 cm long and mentions 4 others 7 1-76 cm in length observed by Pen­nant from a single female. Hubbs (1923) records a 20-lb (9-kg) embryo of Lamna nasus, almost ready for birth, taken from a lO-foot (300-cm) porbeagle caught on August 27 (probably in 1922 or 1923) off Monhegan Island, Maine. Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) conclude that summer is probably the chief season of

B

FIG. 15. A, lateral and B, ventro-lateral views of female embryo of Lamna nasus, 45 cm long, 6.11b (2.8 kg), 1 of 4 from a female porbeagle 7.6 feet (232 cm) long, taken by the trawler Blue Foam on the southwestern Grand Bank, Feb. 10, 1955. (In B the body wall has been removed to show the yolk-stomach with its well developed blood-vessels. The secondary caudal keel can also be

seen in B.)

17

birth since in European waters the largest embryos are found at this time. The normal number of young is 2 to 4 (l or 2 in each oviduct) with 1 and 5 being reported (Shann, 1911; Bigelow and Schroeder, 1948) .

GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE. Fortin (1 864) states that the porbeagle occurs in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, especially during the summer. Provancher ( 1876) says that this shark is frequently encountered in the Gulf in summer and autumn, and Vladykov and McAllister (1961) report the porbeagle as fairly common off Quebec in summer. There are 18 records from the Gulf, 13 of them since 1 943 (Fig. 13 and Table IV) .

NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW BRUNSWICK (outside the Gulf of St. Lawrence). The porbeagle is probably not plentiful in the Bay of Fundy from which there are only 2 records in the 60 years history of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada Biological Station at St. Andrews. However, Scattergood (1949) men­tions obtaining a porbeagle (or porbeagles) from Grand Manan Island, N.B. and possibly these sharks may not be scarce around this island in view of their abundance in the adjoining waters of the Gulf of Maine. For Nova Scotia , Piers ( 1934) reports the porbeagle to be the commonest shark ; Vladykov and M cKenzie (1935) say that this shark is not uncommon in summer in the bays of the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia and Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) state that fishermen report that the porbeagle is the commonest large shark in summer along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton.

The very fact that, as many authors have agreed, the porbeagle is common along the outer coast of Nova Scotia is presumably responsible for the paucity of actual records in the literature quoting place, date and observer. Vve have found no such record for inshore Nova Scotia and only 1 record before 1961 offshore on the Scotian Shelf, although we have searched most of the likely l iterature sources of the past 60 years or more. Piers' (1934) general note that Nova Scotian porbeagles examined by him had basal denticles on the teeth leaves no doubt that he was reporting correctly on the species.

Mr S. N. Tibbo (private communication, December 14, 1961) reports the capture of 1 7 porbeagles in August-October 1961 on the southern part of the Scotian Shelf (Fig. 13 and Table IV) . In reference to these Scotian Shelf catches and to other catches on Georges Bank in 1961 Tibbo (MS, 1962) says that approximately 1 0 porbeagles (average dressed weight 1 7 7 lb, 80 kg) were caught per 100 hooks set.

WESTERN ATLANTIC DISTRIBUTION FROM NORWEGIAN SOURCES. Additional to the records in Fig. 13 and Table IV, Mr Olav Aasen of the Fiskeridirekto­ratets Havforskningsinstitutt, Bergen, Norway (private communication, January 13 , 1961) has provided information on the results of a Norwegian exploratory fishing and research cruise for porbeagles to the St. Pierre Bank-Georges Bank region in July-August 1961 , also information from skippers' reports of September fishing and the results of another Norwegian cruise for porbeagles in March-May 1 961 over a wider area from Flemish Cap to the Gulf of Maine (Table IVA) .

1 8

Although the largest catches per 100 hooks, 13-20%, were on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine, there were catches great enough for commercial fishing as far northward as St. Pierre Bank.

The International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF) has no reports of Norwegian porbeagle landings from the western Atlantic for 1960 but has supplied the following statistics of Norwegian landings of this fish from longline catches in the ICNAF area in 1961 . These are in metric tons, round fresh: 3N-67, 30-39, 3P-46, 4V-3 , 4W-20, 5Z-140 and division unknown (but presumably in Subareas 3-5) 1509 ; total-1824. From weight information in Table IV, particularly Tibbo's catches in the southern Nova Scotian-Georges Bank area, this probably represents a catch of at least 1 6,000 porbeagles. The Norwegian fishery continued in 1962. It is reported (Anon. , 1 962a) that 1 vessel landed in Norway about 90 tons of porbeagle from New­foundland, and mention (Anon. , 1962b) is made of porbeagle fishing in the western Atlantic in 1962 by a Danish firm using Norwegian and Faroese ships. The 600-ton Faroese vessel Bakur was reported to have taken more than 150 metric tons of porbeagle and swordfish, presumably mainly porbeagle, by long­line in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Cape Gregory on the west coast of Newfoundland in the latter third of August and first week of September 1962. It is stated (Anon. , 1962c) that in the June-July 1962 cruise of the Norwegian research vessel G. O. Sars (to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Gulf of Maine areas) the research leader Mr O. Aasen said that on the average 1 porbeagle had been caught on each 1 0 longline hooks. The beginning (see Anon. , 1962d) of Nova Scotian longline fishing for porbeagles began with the landing of 3000 lb (1400 kg) .

Aasen (MS, 1961) says that the porbeagle appears to be common all along the continental slope (in the area investigated from Flemish Cap to Georges Bank) and that even as far out as Flemish Cap it is fished commercially, although with no striking results.

Aasen (1962) records the migration of a porbeagle tagged in the Gulf of Maine on July 18, 1961 and recaptured south of Cape Race at 45°55'N and 53°35'W on Sept. 26 of the same year, travelling, if in a straight line, a distance of 10 nautical miles a day.

19

SCYLIORHINIDAE-CAT SHARKS

Apristurus profundorum (Goode and Bean) 1 895

On July 13 , 1953 an otter-trawl set of the Investigator II, in 300-400 fathoms (550-730 m) on the southwestern slope of the Grand Bank (Table VI), brought up 2 egg cases shown in Fig. 16 and 1 7 A. These egg cases were attached to a hydroid by curved tendrils whose bases were very close together at one end of the egg case. The other end was without tendrils in these and in 3 similar egg cases subsequently obtained.

Each egg case contained an embryo of the dogfish type (Fig. 1 8) and was brownish amber in colour.

Also on October 7, 1 95 7, the Investigator II in 140-142 fathoms (256-260 m) on the southern slope of the Haddock Channel (Table VI) obtained a similar egg case, again with a living egg but developed only to the embryonic disc stage (Fig. 1 7B) .

FIG. 16. A, front and B, side views (X 0.3) of 2 egg cases (presumed to be from Apristurus pro­fundorum) caught on July 13, 1953 by the Investigator II on the southwestern Grand Bank. (The

egg cases are attached to a hydroid by their curved horns or tendrils. )

20

Again on May 12 , 1959 the A. T. Cameron trawled a -similar egg case at 400 fathoms ( 730 m), on the southwestern Grand Bank (Table VI) . Both the 1 957 and 1959 egg cases were pale olive green externally and amber coloured internally after preservation for several years in 10% formalin. This egg case contained a 5 .5-cm embryo, without pigmentation except for early traces of eye pigment (Fig. 19) . The yolk sac of the embryo had been destroyed and the

A

FIG. 1 7. Egg cases, presumably of Apristurus projundorum: A, one of the 2 egg cases of Fig. 16, natural size ( 1 of the 2 tendrils has broken away from the egg case) and B, egg

case ex 1.5) taken by the Investigator II on Oct. 7, 1957 in the Haddock Channel.

2 1 69554-4-5

FIG. 18. Embryo and yolk sac (X 2) presumably of A pristurus profundorum from 1 of the egg cases of Fig. 16.

FIG. 19. A, lateral and B, ventral views (X 2.3) of a 5.5-em embryo, presumably of Apristurus profundorum, taken by (in egg case) the A. T. Cameron, May 12, 1959 on the southwestern Grand

Bank. (The head of the embryo is broken in front of the eyes.)

22

snout broken by rough treatment on deck. Although specific details cannot be too definitely obtained from such a small embryo it has the general appearance of Apristurus sp.

In November 1962 another egg case of this type, empty and attached to a hydroid in a way similar to those of Fig. 16 , was obtained by the A. T. Cameron off Sable Island Bank at 325-400 fathoms (595-730 m) .

Measurements of 3 of these egg cases are as follows :

Greatest length from point where dorsal tendril broken off in Fig. 17 A to line joining horns at opposite end

Median length from same dorsal part to centre ventrally between horns

Greatest width upper curvature

Least width between curvatures

Greatest width lower curvature

Greatest thickness upper curvature

1953 specimen

em

6.3

6.0

2.6

1.8 2.2

1.6

1957 specimen

em

6.6

2.7

2.2

1.7

1959 specimen

em

7.0

6.7

2.9 2.2

2.5

1.6

,18" "I -r-i�-'-"152°

1 ...J51"

FIG. 20. Records of Apristurus profundorum and Centroseymnus eoelolepis from the Canadian area.

23 69554-4-5�

Photographs of the egg cases obtained in 1953 were sent to Dr H . B . Bigelow who replied (August 5, 1953) that no doubt these were egg cases of some scylior­hinid shark, that there was little doubt that they were from Apristurus pro­fundorum and that Mr W. C. Schroeder, in 1953, had trawled 2 or 3 similar egg cases on the slope of Georges Bank. Enough details have been presented to allow a critical comparison to be made when egg cases are found in A. profundorum.

This is the scyliorhinid shark with the most northern occurrence in the western Atlantic. Mr W. C. Schroeder (private communication, August 24 1962) has provided information (Fig. 20 and Table VI) on his captures of 1 Apristurus profundorum in 1952 and 3 in 1953 on the seaward slope of the Scotian Shelf off La Have Bank. In Schroeder's explorations in 1952 and 1 953 (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1954 ; Schroeder, 1955) the species ranged from the Nova Scotian captures noted above to Virginia at depths of 360-720 fathoms (660-1320 m) and bottom temperatures (in 1953) of 3 .7 to 4.5°C.

An egg case apparently of the same general type but not exactly the same shape is shown for Pristiurus melanostomus (Rafinesque) of the European area in Ehrenbaum (1930) .

Bigelow et al. ( 1953) are of the opinion that Scyllium laurussonii of Saemundsson ( 1922 and 1949, 1 specimen from off the coast of Iceland at 560 m in 1915) is the same species as A. profundorum.

If the Newfoundland specimens are A. profundorum the Grand Bank occur­rence forms a connecting link between the 2 extremes of the range.

24

CARCHARHINIDAE-REQUIEM SHARKS

Prionace glallca (Linnaeus) 1 758 Blue Shark

The blue shark, Prionace glallca (Linnaeus) (Fig. 2 1 ) , is another shark which has been considered plentiful at least at times in some southern Canadian Atlantic areas , but for which over most of the Canadian region there are relatively few actual records of fish having been examined or detailed records of their field recognition by fisheries biologists.

This is a wide-ranging rather warm-water shark occurring, according to Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) , in the tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate belts of all the oceans.

A

B

FIG. 21 . Blue sharks from the Newfoundland area: A, 142 em, male, No. 4 of Table VII , from the southeastern Grand Bank and B, 127 em, female immature, No. 7 of Table VII , from the inshore

area, St. John's.

25

NEWFOUNDLAND AREA. Although there have been only·8 actual records from the Newfoundland area (Fig. 22 and Table VII) we believe that the blue shark may at times be common in the southern Newfoundland inshore region. Our 3 St. John's records in 1 95 1-53 were from one small-boat fisherman with whom we were tagging cod. The other St. John's record, that of 1942, was from the same fisherman. Since no special efforts were made to collect information on these sharks and cod tagging was intermittent, these were probably not the only blue sharks caught by this fisherman. An intelligent St. John's fisherman who observed the porbeagle landed in St. John's on August 28, 1951 (Table IV) said that while the porbeagle was the first of its kind he had seen, about 20 blue sharks smaller and thinner than the porbeagle (presumably the blue shark) had been taken in St. John's during 1951 . It may be significant that 1951 was the year when Day (Leim and Day, 1959) observed blue sharks frequently in St. Mar­garet's Bay, Nova Scotia. Newfoundland trawler fishermen report blue sharks to be often very numerous on the southern Grand Bank in summer. Many or most of these , however, may be porbeagles as were all observed and caught by Mr V. Hodder on the Southeast Shoal of the Grand Bank (Table IV) .

This is a warmer-water shark than the porbeagle and although the latter has been recorded from southwestern Grand Bank for January-March and July and in inshore Newfoundland waters for May-November, all Newfoundland area records for the blue shark (except 1 from southwestern Grand Bank m March) are between August 15 and September 16.

FIG. 22. Records of the blue shark, Prionace glauca, from the Canadian area.

26

The blue sharks caught in Newfoundland coastal waters were all small immature specimens about 90-216 cm long. The nearest wintering ground of these small sharks is very likely south of the Grand Bank. The presence of small rather than large blue sharks inshore may merely be due to the not unusual ability of small fish to be present in lower temperatures than the adults. The surface temperatures off St. John's in August are usually between 12 and 14°C and were in the lower part of this range in August 1951 but above it at 15 .3°C in August 1952.

It is difficult, however, to be certain of the significance of the absence of large blue sharks in the Newfoundland inshore records. The larger sharks would bite off or break the small cod lines used and there are as a rule few surface nets of any kind in the water on the east or south coasts of Newfoundland by mid August. We have noted for the basking shark that larger sharks are as a rule caught or entangled in nets. When these nets are set as usual up to early August the smaller sharks caught are, apparently, as a rule, porbeagles.

Very likely the actual northern limit of the coastal range of the blue shark is somewhat north of St. John's as the smaller blue sharks are not sufficiently different in size from the spiny dogfish to cause newspaper or radio comment. Our St. John's records are due to the presence of the Biological Station.

GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE. The 5 records in Fig. 22 and Table VII are from the central and western parts of the Gulf where most marine biologists have been working. Additionally Vladykov and McAllister (1961) report this species as rare in Quebec waters. However, Bergeron (Table VII) provides 2 definite records from the Magdalen Islands and says that blue sharks are very common near the Magdalen Islands in July and August. The scarcity of records of this species from the western Gulf of St. Lawrence is not due to unfavourable surface tem­peratures since these are high in the southern part of the Gulf, but probably to the distance that has to be travelled from their winter quarters near the Gulf Stream to reach the Quebec waters of the western Gulf.

NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW BRUNSvVICK (apart from Gulf of St. Lawrence) . In addition to the 42 records of Fig. 22 and Table VII there are the following general observations : Cornish (1907) reports that the blue shark was very common in the waters adjacent to Canso and that cod fishermen said that it was extremely plentiful on the banks; Halkett (1913) says that the blue shark occurs off the Maritime Provinces and on the banks off Newfoundland ; and Piers (1934) states that the blue shark appears to be moderately common and occasionally quite plentiful on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia in summer and autumn. In 1920, the year of its marked abundance, it was first noted off the mouth of Halifax Harbour on August 15 , was plentiful about August 25 and was last seen on October 10. These sharks were mostly about 10 feet (300 cm) long. Vladykov and McKenzie (1935) note that this shark is a not uncommon summer visitor to the Nova Scotian banks and sometimes occurs even in the inshore waters on the outer coast. Day (Leim and Day, 1959) frequently observed the blue shark in St. Margaret's Bay in the summer of 195 1 .

2 7

Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) believe that it is doubtful whether the blue sharks reported by fishermen (Cornish, 1907) from the banks are this species or porbeagles. Some of the earlier general accounts such as Halkett (1913) and Vladykov and McKenzie (1935) of occurrences on the Nova Scotian banks are doubtful on the same grounds. On the other hand the opinions of Piers (1934) are supported by several actual specimen records (Table VI I ) .

Exploratory longline fishing for tuna on the southern part of the Scotian Shelf in 1961 (Table VI I , N .S . and N.B. No. 10-41) resulted in the capture of 32 blue sharks, 30 of these on August 17 and 18 . In similar fishing on October 6 only 2 blue sharks were captured so that these sharks had apparently moved southward or offshore by October.

Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) point out that there are no records of the blue shark from the Bay of Fundy and western Nova Scotia where the water is colder than on the outer coast of Nova Scotia.

GENERAL. This warm-water ocean-ranging shark is probably abundant on the border of the Gulf Stream-south of the Grand Bank-from which there are records of 3 blue sharks caught in a set of 60 baskets of tuna longline gear by the U.S. research vessel Delaware on Cruise 58-2, April 16-May 14, 1958, surface temperature 1 6°C, about 120 nautical miles (220 km) south of the Grand Bank, just north of the Gulf Stream in 41°09'N, 5 1°00'\V and a total of 13 blue sharks during the whole cruise from southeast of Georges Bank to south of the Grand Bank (Anon. , 1 958 ; Squire, MS, 1958) . Also, Mr Olav Aasen of Bergen, Norway, who carried out a research survey by longline of porbeagles in the western Atlantic from Georges Bank to St. Pierre Bank in July-August 1961 wrote on December 14, 1961 that the blue shark was plentiful in the catches.

Apart from the 2 records from the Gaspe area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence there are no actual records of the blue shark in the western Atlantic north of St. John's, nor apparently does its range normally extend northward to Iceland because it is not mentioned in Saemundsson (1949) , and Mr J 6n J 6nsson (private communication, September 3 , 1962) says that he does not know of any records of this shark from Icelandic waters.

28

SQUALIDAE-DOGFISH SHARKS

Centroscyllium fabricii (Reinhardt) 1825 Black Dogfish

So much information is available on the distribution and biology of Cen­troscyllium fabricii (Reinhardt) , the black dogfish (Fig. 23 and 24) , that only a general account will be given here and a more detailed paper prepared later.

Bean (1881) reports 13 black dogfish from various localities on the seaward slope of the Scotian Shelf (at 200-250 fathoms (370-460 m) in 6 records where depths are given) and 6 from the Grand Bank (the 3 with definite locality refer­ences being from the southwestern slope, at 200 fathoms (370 m) in the 2 cases for which depths are available) .

In recent years catches of numerous individuals of this species have been reported from the slope of the Scotian Shelf south of La Have Bank (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1954; Schroeder, 1955) and off Emerald Bank (Leim, 1960) . Jones ( 1882) , Jordan et al. ( 1930) , Vladykov and McKenzie (1935) and many others mention that the black dogfish is distributed on the Nova Scotian banks. Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) include general references to this species being taken by halibut fishermen along the south slope of the Grand Bank. Four individuals presumably of this species are reported from the Laurentian Channel off Bird Rock in May-June 1953 (Steele, MS, 1958) and 2 additional specimens from the same general area by Bergeron (1960) .

Bigelow and Schroeder (1954) , in a deep-water otter-trawling survey from south of La Have Bank to the coast of Virginia, report the black dogfish as most numerous chiefly in 300-550 fathoms (550-1010 m) off the southern Scotian Shelf but occurring at least as deeply as 710-730 fathoms (1 300-1340 m) and as shallow as 185-220 fathoms (340-400 m) with the most southern specimen from the continental slope off Virginia at 37°39'N.

The black dogfish is not a fish of the Golder waters and is not reported from Ungava Bay (Dunbar and Hildebrand, 1952) nor from Hudson Bay (Vladykov, 1933) but is fairly numerous in the deep water off West Greenland (Jensen, 1948) and off the south and west coast of Iceland (Saemundsson, 1949) .

To these records we can add otter-trawl captures, mainly by the research vessels Investigator II 1 950-60 and A. T. Cameron 1958-60, of close to several thousand individuals of this species. These captures were well distributed (with successful sets usually not more than 1° latitude or longitude apart and often less) southeast and centrally along the seaward slope of the Scotian Shelf, off Cape Anguille at the northern side of the Cabot Strait entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, along the western slope of St. Pierre Bank, the southwestern, eastern and northern slopes of the Grand Bank, Flemish Cap, the continental slope of the Northeast Newfoundland Shelf, the whole seaward slope of the Labrador Shelf from the eastern edge of Hamilton Inlet Bank northward and continuing along the seaward slope of Baffin Island Shelf to 65°12'N, 58°13'W

29 69554-4-6

which marks the northward limit of this species in our investigations of the Can­adian slope of this area. At this point on August 26, 1959, in a half-hour set by the A. T. Cameron in 410-"420 fathoms (750-770 m) , 3 .4°C, 3 female black dogfish 55 , 71 and 77 cm in length were caught.

The black dogfish distribution extends farther northward in the warmer water on the West Greenland side of the Davis Strait Ridge where Jensen (1948) records a capture in a single set of 42 individuals at 66°3 7'N and 56°37'W at 460 m and 3. 1 °C.

FIG. 23 . Lateral, dorsal and ventral views of a black dogfish, Centroscyllium fabricii, 68 cm greatest total length, taken by the Investigator II, Nov. 8, 1953 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,

48°15'N, 60000'W, 199 fathoms (364 m).

30

FIG. 24. Upper (above) and lower (below) teeth of: A, black dogfish, Centroscyllium jabricii, a 51-cm immature female from 250 fathoms (457 m) from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off Cape St.

George, NIH and B, Etmopterus princeps (No. 25, 26-cm male of Table VII I ).

31 69554-4-6�

In general throughout the whole region from the southern part of the Scotian Shelf to Davis Strait a set in 300-400 fathoms (550-730 m) is likely to produce one or more black dogfish. Sets in the vicinity of 250 fathoms (460 m) also often produce black dogfish while over most of the area only rarely are captures made as shallow as 200 fathoms (370 m). No black dogfish were obtained in Ungava Bay in 3 deep-water sets by the A. T. Cameron on September 4-6, 1959 in 300--400 fathoms (550-730 m) . Bottom temperatures here were 1 .46 to 1 . 75°C, several degrees lower than the usual 3 .5-4.5°C range within which almost all our captures of black dogfish have been made. Also no black dogfish were captured in half-hour sets of the A . T. Cameron at 3 10, 294 and 383 fathoms (567, 538 and 700 m) on the western side of the Davis Strait Ridge between 66°04' and 66°48'N and 59°00' and 59°49'W. Bottom temperatures in these sets were 1 .0, -1 . 1 and 1 .2°C, respectively. The greatest number captured in a half-hour set by the A. T. Cameron was 68 on October 2 , 1 959 on the slope of the Northeast Newfoundland Shelf in 300 fathoms (550 m) , 3 .6°C. Other note­worthy captures in half-hour otter-trawl sets by the A. T. Cameron were 35 individuals on the slope of the Scotian Shelf on November 12 , 1959 in 350-385 fathoms (640--705 m) , 4.4°C ; 32 individuals on the Labrador Shelf southeast of Hamilton Inlet Bank on August 1 1 , 1960 in 300 fathoms (550 m) , 4.4°C, and 29 individuals on September 30, 1959 at 303 fathoms (554 m) , 3.5°C on the North­east Newfoundland Shelf.

Most of these black dogfish were between 60 and 75 cm greatest total length. Only a few were larger than 80 cm and 84 cm was the greatest length attained.

Although almost invariably, in our experience which has been chiefly from May to November for research vessel catches, black dogfish occur only in sets from 250 fathoms (460 m) and deeper, these fish may sometimes come shallower at least during winter and spring and may school in larger numbers, possibly with sexes separate. On April 14-15 , 1950 the Newfoundland trawler Blue Foam,

in a set on St. Pierre Bank at 45°06'N and 56°07'W in 1 15-120 fathoms (210-220 m) , caught 3000 lb (1400 kg) of black dogfish in a tow from 1 1 .30 P . M. to 1 .00 A.M., Newfoundland Standard Time. Sets at the same depth and in the same area immediately before and after this set yielded only a few black dog­fish and otherwise there was no further record of black dogfish during the trip. Another local trawler, the Blue Spray, fishing at the same time in the same area caught a total of 13 black dogfish in 5 sets between 100 and 130 fathoms (180 and 240 m). The big school may have been a pelagic one which temporarily came close to bottom, or more likely a deeper school which temporarily during the night moved upward on the slope and was kept close to bottom by the cold water above. Seventeen black dogfish, all the Blue Spray catch and 4 from the Blue Foam examined at the Station, ranged from 58-70 cm in the greatest total length and were without exception mature females containing pups 3-14 cm long.

32

Etmopterus princeps Collett 1904

Etmopterus princeps has not been reported from the Newfoundland area but 2 small specimens of this shark (Fig. 24-26) were collected by Mr E. J . Sande man from an otter-trawl set b y the A. T. Cameron on November 9 , 1959 in the same general region of the Scotian Shelf seaward of La Have Bank where Schroeder obtained 23 individuals of this species in 1949-53 (Fig. 2, Table VIII ; Bigelow et al., 1953 ; Bigelow and Schroeder, � 954 ; Schroeder, 1955) .

A

B

FIG. 25. Etmopterus princeps caught by the A . T. Cameron, Nov. 9, 1959 on the Scotian Shelf seaward of La Have Bank: A, 2 1 em and B, 26 em, both immature males ; C, dorsal and D, ventral

views of head of A.

33

Our 2 specimens agreed well with Bigelow and Schroeder's ( 1 957) key for Etmopterus species and Etmopterus princeps except that whereas the latter authors both for E. princeps and E. spinax say " Interspace between first and second dorsal fins is only about as long as from tip of snout to origin of pectorals" , in our specimens this interspace was only 73% and 70%, respectively, as long as the distance between the tip of the snout and the anterior (dorsal) origin of the pectorals. However, for 1 of the 2 large specimens of Etmopterus princeps whose body proportions are set out in detail by Bigelow et al. ( 1953) the distance from snout to pectoral is 25% and the interspace between 1st and 2nd dorsals 20.9% of the total length. In this specimen, then,fore, the interspace between 1 st and 2nd dorsals is 84% of the length from snout to pectoral. Hence, we presume that considering the small size of our specimens they are within the range of varia­tion of the species Etmopterus princeps and that some restating is necessary of the somewhat contradictory portion of the key in Bigelow and Schroeder ( 1957) . ( In this connection Mr W. C. Schroeder (private communication March 1 ,

FIG. 26. A, skin spines ( x 8.6) from the larger Etmopterus of Fig. 25, with dorsal area from which the photograph of spines is taken indicated by enclosed area in B.

34

1 963) has recently examined, at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, 4 specimens of E. princeps (31 7 and 415 mm female, 339 and 357 mm male ,) and found the interspace between 1st and 2nd dorsals to be 69, 72, 85 and 85%, respectively, of snout to origin of pectoral. Also, for 2 specimens of E. spinax (239 mm female and 320 mm male) the comparable percentages were 95 and 104.)

Centroscymnus coelolepis Bocage and Capello 1 864 Portuguese Shark

Bean (1881) gives the following 10 or 1 1 positive records of Centroscymnus coelolepis from the eastern Canadian area (Fig. 20) , 4 from the Grand Bank and 6 or 7 from the Scotian Shel f : Newfoundland area-Grand Bank (2) ; Grand Bank, 200 fathoms (370 m) ; middle of SW slope Grand Bank, 44°N, 52°50'W, 250 fathoms (460 m) ; Scotian Shelf-south of La Have Bank, 42°40'N, 63°50'W, '260 fathoms (480 m) ; Banquereau (3) ; off Sable Island Bank, 43°25'N, 60oW, 1 80 fathoms (330 m) ; Scotian Shelf off between Emerald and La Have Banks 42°37'N, 62°55'W, 200 fathoms (370 m) ; 42°15'N, 58°52'W, 250 fathoms (460 m) .

The position o f this last record i s incorrect being over very deep water well away from the banks. If the longitude is correct the position is south of Ban­quereau but if the latitude is correct the position is southeast of Browns Bank at the southern tip of the Scotian Shelf.

These fish were apparently collected by the U.S. National Museum from halibut line fishermen and no dates of capture are available. Goode and Bean (1895) say that this species is abundant on the offshore banks of New England at a depth of 200 fathoms (370 m) and more. Jones (1 882) for the Nova Scotian area reports the species as abundant on the fishing banks off the coast (infor­mation from Prof G. Brown Goode) . Vladykov and McKenzie (1935) report the fish as rather rare in the Nova Scotian area and have no new records to add to those of Bean (1881 ) . Bigelow and Schroeder ( 1948) say that a total of perhaps 15-20 individuals of this species are recorded from depths of 1 80-250 fathoms (330-460 m) from Georges Bank, the Nova Scotian and the Newfoundland banks but that it is likely to be much more abundant than the positive records indicate since fishermen longlining for halibut in deep water along the offshore banks usually take at least 1 or 2 of this species per trip.

However, Schroeder's trawlings off Georges Bank and the southern Scotian Shelf in about 90 successful hauls in 1 949, 1952 and 1953 at depths greater than 200 fathoms (370 m) , including about 40 deeper than 400 fathoms (730 m) , produced no Portuguese sharks, although 3 were caught farther south between 39°09'N and 38°41'N at depths of 485-520 fathoms (885-950 m) and 630-675 fathoms (1150-1 235 m) (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1954) . During the past 10 years the research vessels Investigator II and A . T. Cameron of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada have taken a very large number of otter-trawl hauls between 200 and 400 fathoms (370 and 730 m) around the Newfoundland, Labrador, Baffin Island and Scotian Shelves without producing a single record of this specIes.

35

Thus, to our knowledge there has been only 1 additional record of the Portu­guese shark in the Canadian Atlantic area since those of Bean (1881 ) . lVIr William C. Schroeder wrote on December 27 , 1961 that of the 2 Centroscymnus coelolepis examined in detail by Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) , lVI .C .Z. No. 35144 taken off Banquereau is probably one of Bean's (1881) specimens since the catalogue entry states "1878-U.S. Fish Commission" . However, lVI .C.Z. No. 35237 was taken off Banquereau by the boat Daion in 1940. Also, the Harvard lVIuseum has a specimen lVI.C.Z. 3962 1 from the seaward slope of the northern tip of Georges Bank at 41°29'N, 65°35'\¥ taken in 1955, a male 87 .6 cm long with well­developed claspers. Although it is possible that, like some other pelagic species, this species is more easily caught by line than by otter trawl , until more know­ledge is available we must consider it to be very rare at the present time in the eastern Canadian, and especially Newfoundland, area down to 400 fathoms (730 m) . It may be that this species usually lives a good deal deeper than the occasional records indicate and hence may be as a rule below the 400-fathom (730-m) depth which has been the lower limit of otter trawling by the St. John's Station .

For neighbouring areas there appear to be no records of this fish from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Labrador, Hudson or Ungava Bays or from Greenland. Saemundsson (1949) gives a single Icelandic record as Centrophorus coelolepis but more recently Brandes et al. (1954, 1957) , Kotthaus and Krefft (1957) and Rae and Wilson (1957) have reported captures of this species in Icelandic waters and on the Iceland-Faroe Ridge. Rae and Wilson (1958) report the capture by a research vessel fishing with longline in 500 fath0ms (910 m) southwest of the Faroes, on July 2 1 , 1956 of 8 males and 5 females of this species. This with Bigelow and Schroeder's recent records quoted above at 485-675 fathoms (885-1235 m) , the absence of this fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the state­ment by Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) that this species has been recorded down to a depth of 1487 fathoms (2719 m) make it appear likely that off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia this shark is usually deeper than 400 fathoms (730 m) and that like so many pelagic fishes it is more readily caught by line than by otter trawl.

Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch and Schneider) 1 801 Greenland Shark

WEST GREENLAND, BAFFIN BAY AND DAVIS STRAIT. The Greenland shark (Fig. 2 7 and 28) is very numerous and has formed the basis of a large commercial fishery, for its liver, in West Greenland. Jensen (1948) estimates the annual catch of these sharks in West Greenland (in recent years before 1 948) to be about 50,000 individuals. It occurs throughout the Thule district and is caught in large numbers as far north as 76°N. Jensen's records show captures to the west­ward well out in Davis Strait.

That they are numerous northward beyond 76°N and on the western as well as eastern sides of Baffin Bay is evident by a report (Anon. , 1 948) of 2 Norwegian vessels which successfully fished Greenland sharks north of 76°N in

36

FIG. 27. Greenland sharks on deck of A. T. Cameron: A, 14.5-foot (442-cm) female and B, 13.6-foot (415-cm) female from the northeastern Grand Bank, June 10 and 11 , 1962 (No. 12 and 13,

Nfld., of Table IX. Photographs from A. W. May).

37

FIG. 28. Upper (above) and lower (below) teeth of A, Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus, 12.4-foot (378-cm) male, No. 10 Nfld., Table IX, and B, of spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias of

Fig. 30.

38

1 948 and produced 800 barrels of shark-liver oil. The 2 boats arrived at the edge of the ice in early June and fished in front of the receding ice-line north to Ellesmere Island by September.

From reports of the R.C.M.P. Detachment at Pond Inlet (private com­munication, Dr H. D. Fisher, July 1 1 , 1 962) and from Rousseliere (1959) who provides photographs of a number of Greenland sharks on the ice, Greenland sharks are common in the Pond Inlet area in winter and spring (Fig. 29 and

GREENLAND SHARK o JANUARY

0-- F E BRUARY

o MAY

0- JUNE � JULY

-0 AUGUST

9 -0

MARCH

APRIL

., SEPTEMBER

• OCTOBER , NOVEMBER

__ DECEMBER

.A MONTH UNKNOWN Y SUMMER, MONTH UNKNOWN

FIGURES INDICATE SHARK LENGTHS IN FEET

14-2 -B ,

"

FIG. 29. Records of the Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus, from the Canadian area.

39

Table IX) . About 10 were caught in the winter of 1 957-58 and 20 in the winter­spring of 1958-59 by the R.C.M.P. using only a single hook near bottom.

The lack of records (1 off Cape Dyer, Fig. 29 and Table IX) east of Baffin Island, south of Cape Dyer, is doubtless due to a lack of observers rather than of Greenland sharks.

UNGAVA BAY, HUDSON STRAIT, HUDSON BAY, FOXE BASIN , NORTHWEST

TERRITORIES. From Resolute on Cornwallis Island (Fig. 29 and Table IX) we have records of 3 Greenland sharks caught in 1 960-62.

From the Ungava Bay-Hudson Bay area there are definite records only for Ungava Bay where in addition to the 9 records of Fig. 29 and Table IX, Dunbar and Hildebrand (1952) say that these sharks are occasionally killed off the mouth of Payne Bay and sometimes are stranded at the mouths of the Koksoak, Korok and George Rivers. They are reported to be very common and are caught in and do much damage to seal nets a t Port Burwell a t the time o f the autumn migration of harp seals. West of Ungava Bay on the southern side of Hudson Strait these authors say that shark interference with seal nets is also reported to occur at Wakeham Bay at the time of the autumn migration of harp seals. They say that sharks in the Wakeham Bay area are in smaller numbers and that these sharks have always been known to be fairly common at Diana Bay and Cape Hope's Advance. There are no reports of this shark farther west in Hudson Strait than Wakeham Bay, about now, and none from Hudson Bay or Foxe Basin. Dr E. H. Grainger (personal communication, Dr H. D. Fisher, July 1 1 , 1962) says that during the period from August 1 955 to October 1956 which he spent in Foxe Basin sharks were unknown to the Eskimos there.

LABRADOR. There is only 1 completely authenticated record from Labrador. Additionally Grenfell (1909) mentions pulling 1 larger than himself up on the ice and on another occasion with 2 other men catching 5 through a hole in the ice in the same way off Labrador but does not give the locality. He also says that specimens of this shark are often entangled in sunken seal nets on the Labrador coast.

Stearns ( 1884) reports the Greenland shark as not rare all along the coast. Stearns, however, carried out almost all his investigations on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Mingan to Red Bay in the Strait of Belle Isle and in 1 of 4 years investigations visited as far north as Triangle Harbour (52° 50'N) . Thus he was acquainted with only the most southerly portion of Labrador. Mr W. N. Batten, technician at the St. John's Station, questioned fishermen in a cruise along the Labrador coast in July-August 1 962 and had Greenland sharks reported to him at only 2 places. At Makkovik, about 55°N, Greenland sharks were reported to be plentiful during the summer months. At Nain, farther to the north, Greenland sharks were said to be rare ; one was seen in the summer of 1961. Two persons familiar with the Labrador fishery, Captain Charles Kean and Captain Jim Gillett have separately told Mr Gordon Williamson, biologist on

40

the staff of the St. John's Station, that Greenland sharks are quite commonly caught in cod traps (set close to shore in July-August) along the Labrador coast from Cape Mugford, 57°45'N, northwards.

NEWFOUNDLAND. The 1 3 records from the Newfoundland area (Fig. 29 and Table IX) indicate that the Greenland shark is not scarce in this region, and the numbers compared with the single authentic record for Labrador represent in large degree the great amount of offshore commercial fishing and research interest by the St. John's Station in the Newfoundland area compared with the Labrador area. This is a cold-water shark and the summer records are from deep water and none from the shallow inshore warmer-water area where so much fishing is carried out in summer. However, in winter the Greenland shark may come close to the Newfoundland coast. The "St. John's Daily News", January 2 1 , 1946 recorded from its Twillingate (Notre Dame Bay) correspondent (J anuary 8) that during the past 2 weeks fishermen had been very busy netting seals. One crew to date had about 60 seals landed from nets. Quite a number of sharks were reported and in 1 fleet of nets there were 2 large ones entangled. These sharks caused considerable damage to the twine and as a result nets had to be taken up often for repairs. Also, the Newfoundland newspaper "The Western Star" reported on January 23, 1951 from its correspondent in Twillin­gate that sharks were very plentiful as quite a number of harp seals netted had been partially torn up and many nets damaged.

A number of observers (all the experienced sealers who were approached in this regard) have given us accounts (through Captain B. Blackwood and Mr C. Rose of the St. John's Station) of the abundance of Greenland sharks, called ground sharks by the Newfoundland fishermen, during the seal fishery off the northeast coast of Newfoundland in March and April. The general sealing area was between Funk Island and Belle Isle. Captain J. H. Blackmore who spent over 40 years at the seal fishery says that during periods when the ships would be jammed in the ice some of the crew would lower meat or bread on a gaff through holes in the ice and attract the sharks to the surface where they would be hooked by gaffs and pulled up on the ice. This observer reported seeing as many as 6 ground sharks, 6-10 feet (180-300 cm) in length, pulled up on the ice at one time. Captain Isaac Barbour who for many years prosecuted the seal fishery as sealer and master says he has seen hundreds of sharks amon'gst the icefields during the sealing season. His particular recollection is of one trip in mid April of 1 922 when the ship Erick was jammed in ice about 20 nautical miles (37 km) east of the Grey Islands, off White Bay. One night while pumping the ship's bilges the blood and fat attracted a number of sharks around a hole in the ice melt.ed by the pumps. The crew rigged hooks with seal meat as bait and caught over 30 grey sharks which ranged in length from 1 2 to 1 6 feet (370-490 cm) . Mr John Roberts who spent 40 seasons at the seal fishery as sealer and master confirms Captain Barbour's statements regarding the abundance of ground sharks at the ice fields during the sealing season. He reported an incident of about 60 years ago when the sealing vessel Falcon was jammed in the ice in Green Bay. On that occasion he saw 4 or 5 sharks at one time in the small lake

41

of water kept open by the ship's propeller wash, and the crew members caught about 1 0 grey ground sharks from 10 to 1 5 feet (300-460 cm) in length.

Additionally, Goode and Bean (1895) described a specimen of Notacanthus phasganorus Goode, obtained from a fishing schooner in the spring of 1 881 and said to be taken from the stomach of a ground shark, Somniosus brevipinnis, on the Grand Bank. At this time of the year fishing would have been on the southern slope of the bank.

GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE. There are 7 and probably 9 authentic records of the Greenland shark from the Gulf of St. Lawrence in addition to the record from the west coast of Newfoundland (Fig. 29 and Table IX) . Stearns (1884) who in parts of 4 years carried out studies mainly on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Mingan to Red Bay with one visit to southern Labrador as far north as 52°50'N, says that the Greenland shark is not rare all along the coast, in some years doing more damage (to fishing gear) than others. Vladykov and McAllister ( 1961) say that this shark is fairly common in Quebec waters doing damage to seals during the fall fishery. There are no records from central, southern or eastern parts of the Gulf except that of Reeks (Table IX, No. 1 , Nfld. area) from the west coast o f Newfoundland.

NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW BRUNSWICK (outside the Gulf) . There are only 2 records for the Nova Scotian area, from Halifax in February 1863 and from off La Have Bank, November 1962 (Fig. 29 and Table IX) . Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) give an additional Nova Scotian record from Storer (1857) . It is evident, however, from many passages in Storer's paper that the Bras d'Or mentioned as the location of his Greenland shark record (Table IX) was not the locality of that name in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, but presumably Bradore, on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the Strait of Belle Isle. There are 2 records from New Brunswick, 1 in and 1 near Passamaquoddy Bay, and 1 from Eastport, Maine.

GULF OF MAINE. Bigelow and Schroeder (1948) say that there are published records of about 27 specimens from the Gulf of Maine up to 1938 with several more reported since that time. In this area they have been reported from Novem­ber, each month from January to April , June and August.

Squalus acanthias Linnaeus 1 758 Spiny Do�fish

For the spiny dogfish (Fig. 28 and 30) as for the black dogfish, so much information is available that only a relatively brief survey can be presented here, leaving a more complete account for a separate paper on this species.

The spiny dogfish was reported by Templeman (1944) to occur seasonally during the warmer part of the year in large numbers all around the coast of Newfoundland and northward in Labrador at least to Spotted Islands, about 53°30'N, and by Backus (1957) to occur as far northward on the coast as Gready, about 53°50'N. In answer to a St. John's Station questionnaire in 1942 fishermen

42

said that spiny dogfish were first caught in the Batteau and Spotted Islands area about 5 or 6 summers previously, having been unknown until then, and that no spiny dogfish occurred in the Hamilton Inlet area and from Nutak to Cape Chidley. In July-August 1 962, fishermen on the Labrador coast from Anse au Loup in Belle Isle Strait to Nain in northern Labrador were questioned on the presence and abundance of the spiny dogfish. They reported that these dogfish were present although very rare 10-15 years ago as far north as Makkovik, 55°lO'N, and more plentiful at Smokey, 54°30'N, but that no spiny dogfish have been taken on the southern Labrador coast during the past 10-15 years.

FIG. 30. An immature male spiny dogfish, Squalus acantltias, 65 em long, from Cape Spear Bay, St. John's, Aug. 8, 1962.

Spiny dogfish occur in numbers usually from June to November-December on the south coast of Newfoundland, July-August to November-December on the east coast and from late August or early September-october and some­times in large numbers in southern Labrador. In Placentia Bay during a sub­sidized attempt in 1938 to reduce spiny dogfish numbers about 10 million lb (4,500,000 kg) or approximately 2 or 3 million spiny dogfish were caught without any apparent diminution of the supply.

In the Newfoundland area where the water of moderate depth is often at O°C or lower spiny dogfish are typically off bottom in warmer water. With occasional notable exceptions otter trawlers do not catch large numbers. The Investigator II has obtained spiny dogfish on the southwestern slopes of the Grand Bank, western St. Pierre Bank and in deep water where red fish are fished along the south and west coasts of Newfoundland. The largest coastal catches were 3 of 500 lb (230 kg) and 2 of 700 lb (320 kg) taken in St. Mary's Bay in 30- to 60-minute drags in October 1949.

We have obtained from commercial trawlers specimens of spiny dogfish from the Grand Bank as early as January, March, April and May, from western St. Pierre Bank in April and May and from the same areas by the otter trawling of the Investigator II and the A. T. Cameron in April.

43

On the Grand Bank the largest catches of spiny dogfish recorded by our research vessels were 2 of 1000 lb (450 kg) each from the southwestern Grand Bank by the Investigator II on May 3 1 and June 1 , 1946 (Table X) .

By far the greatest catches of spiny dogfish have been on St. Pierre Bank (Table X) , where catches in 7 half-hour sets in 5 different years by the Investi­

gator II have ranged between 2300 and 10,000 lb (1040 and 4540 kg) and 1 half­hour set by the A . T. Cameron, June 8, 1960 produced 21 ,600 lb (9800 kg) . In 3 of the 250 baskets o f the A . T. Cameron's catch counted and weighed the baskets held, respectively, 3 1 , 30 and 34 dogfish and the dogfish averaged 2.6 lb (1 .2 kg) in weight.

Also, in the first week of May 1955 large numbers of spiny dogfish were caught by commercial trawlers operating on St. Pierre Bank.

Almost all these large catches by the Station's research vessels have been taken in different years in deep water in the same small area on the northern part of the western slope of St. Pierre Bank. These great quantities of spiny dogfish on St. Pierre Bank were almost entirely between 60 and 80 em in length. Templeman ( 1944) shows that very few female spiny dogfish mature below 77 em and mature females must be scarce in this St . Pierre Bank accumulation, although doubtless many males are mature. In a random sample of 35 spiny dogfish examined by the author from several of these large catches 9 males were immature and 9 mature while all 1 7 females were immature.

Tagging (Templeman, 1954) has shown that many spiny dogfish, at least mature females many with large pups, migrate southward in the autumn from Newfoundland into east coast United States waters where they give birth to their young.

The large quantities of males and immature females, therefore, present in deep water of St. Pierre Bank in May and early June may represent either large schools of these fish advancing northward toward the Newfoundland coast or wintering concentrations of males and immature females which once having migrated northward remain over winter.

The large spiny dogfish catches were made in 5 different years between May 23 and June 8 and all but 1 between June 2 and June 8 (Table X) . In the years 1 948, 195 1 , 1 952, 1955, 1957 and 1 959 when the otter-trawling survey of St. Pierre Bank, in essentially the same pattern of stations as in the years when spiny dogfish were numerous, was carried out between June 22 and July 4, in 2 years no spiny dogfish were caught, in 1 year 1 spiny dogfish was captured and in 3 years the largest catch was 1 or 2 spiny dogfish.

I n 1948 a St. Pierre Bank survey was also done between April 23 and May 5 and only 1 spiny dogfish was caught. These surveys included both deep slope and shallow water stations. It is most likely, therefore, in view of the appearance of dogfish on the south coast of Newfoundland in the latter half of June (Temple­man, 1 944) , that the accumulations in deep water on St. Pierre Bank during the first week of June shortly afterwards ascend into the surface layer and migrate inshore. The lack of dogfish on St. Pierre Bank, April 23-May 5 , 1 948 also argues in favour of the early June accumulations being migrants from more southern areas.

44

Many immature males and females and some mature males remain over winter at the southern slopes of the banks or in the deep water of the various bays. I n this latter situation they are sometimes trapped by the cold water and killed. This apparently occurred in late February 1951 when thousands of small spiny dogfish were driven ashore in Conception Bay. Templeman (1944) also reports that a few spiny dogfish are caught in deep water on the south coast of Newfoundland in winter and that many spiny dogfish were washed ashore in January 1939 in St. Georges Bay, during a storm. On April 15 , 1950 one of our field technicians saw an immature spiny dogfish swimming near shore and eventually being stranded in Bonne Bay. In the first week of April 1948 spiny dogfish were reported to be very plentiful near Sagona Island in Fortune Bay which was unusually early for this area. Some spiny dogfish, also, sometimes remain over winter in the deep water off the northeast coast of Newfoundland and they were reported about the middle of January 1946 to be a considerable nuisance to herring gill net fishermen at Botwood in Notre Dame Bay.

On the Grand Bank, apart from the southwestern slope, spiny dogfish are very scarce in research vessel catches. There are a few individual records from eastern Grand Bank, Flemish Cap and the Northeast Newfoundland Shelf (Table XI) . On the Labrador Shelf many otter-trawl sets from 100 to 400 fathoms ( 1 80-730 m) on the seaward slopes and offshore banks in summer and early autumn have produced only 1 spiny dogfish, at 54°46'N. This is the most north­erly authentic record in the Canadian area although fishermen have reported them from the inshore Labrador area, north to 55°lO'N. No spiny dogfish were caught in the A. T. Cameron cruise with many sets at 100-400 fathoms (180-730 m) east of Baffin Island and in sets also including shallow water of Ungava Bay on August 24-September 10 , 1959.

One spiny dogfish tagged on southwestern Grand Bank migrated, during an absence of 10 years, to the west coast of Iceland (Templeman, 1958) .

Of 1 758 spiny dogfish measured by the author, in July-November 1942, at St. John's and taken by salmon gill net and line-trawl (Templeman, 1944) the smallest was 58 cm and the largest 101 cm. One female used for tagging, however, was 108 cm long. These measurements were from the snout to the tip of the caudal fin with the caudal fin extending directly backward to its greatest length. In over 2000 spiny dogfish measured in recent years, almost all from otter-trawl catches with a shrimp-net liner in the codend, the smallest has been 5 1 cm and the largest 96 cm in greatest total length. Since the otter trawl with a shrimp-net liner catches cod and haddock adequately down to 10-15 cm in length and spiny dogfish are usually about 25-30 cm at birth there is no evidence at present that the spiny dogfish normally liberates its young in the Newfoundland area or that the young migrate to the Newfoundland area in their first few years after birth.

There are considerable variations in the volume of migration of spiny dog­fish around the coast of Newfoundland. Mr A. M . Fleming of the staff of the St. John's Station has provided information from a discussion in February 1 961 with a fishermen 's study group containing fishermen from Forteau, Pinware and

45

L'Anse au Clair from the Labrador side and Flowers Cove from the Newfound­land side of the Strait of Belle Isle area, from Conche, Twillingate, Grates Cove and Port de Grave on the east coast of Newfoundland and from St. Lawrence and St. Shotts on the south coast. All the fishermen except those from St. Lawrence, who said that spiny dogfish were still plentiful in their area, agreed that these dogfish were now very scarce compared with some former years when they were plentiful. The period of scarcity was claimed to be from 5 to 9 years.

Occasional specimens of the spiny dogfish are reported from West Green­land (Jensen, 1948) but these have presumably usually come from Iceland.

46

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Assistance and records have been received from many persons and it is possible to mention only a few of them here.

The author is very grateful to Mr W. C. Schroeder for providing unpublished information from his researches on the distribution of Apristurus profundorum and Etmopterus princeps in the Canadian area and for other information as noted in the text ; to Mr Olav Aasen for unpublished information on his and other Norwegian catches of porbeagles in the western Atlantic ; to Messrs H. J. Squires and A. M . Fleming for the provision of many records and much assistance ; to the l ate G. L. Handrigan ; also to Messrs V. M . Hodder, D . E. Sergeant, T. K. Pitt, S. J. Olsen, E. J. Sandeman, A. W. May and G. R. Williamson, biologists and former biologists of the St. John's Station and to many of the field technicians of the Station for the provision of records and material.

I am grateful also to the following biologists and others for the provision of records and other information usually as noted in the text : Mr Julien Bergeron, Mr L. R. Day, Mr S. N. Tibbo, Dr H. D. Fisher, Mr Pierre BruneI, Dr E. H. Grainger, Mr J. G. Hunter, Dr H. B. Bigelow, Dr M. J. Dunbar, Dr A. Rojo, Dr E. Trewavas, Dr W. B. Scott, Mr Leslie Tuck, Dr A. Marcotte, Mr B. F. C. DeBaie, Mr Keith A. Smith, Dr Paul Hansen, Dr F. A. Aldrich, Mr G. M . Bell, and also to Mr E. L. Rowe for most of the photography.

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REFERENCES

AASEN, OLAV. MS, 1961. Some observations on the biology of the porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus L.). Int. Counc. Expl. Sea, C. M. 1961, Near Northern Seas Committee, No. 109, pp. 1-7.

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48

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MS, 1962. Observations eparses en 1961 sur quelques especes animales macroscopiques pelagiques. Ibid. , 1961, pp. 149-150.

CORNISH, GEORGE A. 1907. Notes on the fishes of Canso. Contrib. Canadian Bioi. , 1902-1905, No. 9, pp. 81-90.

Cox, PHILIP. 1896. Catalogue of the marine and fresh-water fishes of New Brunswick. Bull. Nat. Hist. Soc. , New Brunswick, No. 13, pp. 62-75.

DAWSON, ·WILLIAM. 1891. Note on a shark and ray obtained at Little Metis, on the lower St. Lawrence. Canadian Rec. Sci. , 4: 303-309.

DAY, L. R. MS, 1961. Records of unusual marine species from the Maritime Provinces 1960. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, A nn. Rept. Bioi. Sta. , St. Andrews, N.B., 1960-61, App. No. 100, pp. 23 1-233.

DAY, L. R., AND H. D. FISHER. 1954. Notes on the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in Canadian Atlantic waters. Copeia for 1954, No. 4, pp. 295-296.

DRAINVILLE, GERARD, AND LEO BRASSARD. 1960. Le requin, Somniosus microcephalus dans la riviere Saguenay. Le Nat. Canadien, 87( 1 2 ) : 269-277.

DUNBAR, M. J., AND H. H. HILDEBRAND. 1952. Contribution to the study of the fishes of Ungava Bay. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, 9(2 ) : 83-128.

EHRENBAUM, E. 1930. Pristiurus melanostomus. Faune ichthyol. Atlantique nord, Species No. 12, Conseil Expl. Mer, Copenhagen.

FORTIN, Pierre. 1864. Continuation of the list of fish of the Gulf and River St. Lawrence. Annual Report of Pierre Fortin. Fisheries appendices from Annual Report for 1863 of the Hon. Wm. McDougal, commissioner of crown lands for the year 1863, pp. 60-72.

FROST, NANCY. 1938. Newfoundland fishes. A popular account of their life histories (Pt. I & I I ) . Newfoundland Dept. Natural Resources, Servo Bull. No. 8, pp. 1-29.

GOODE, G. BROWN. 1884. The food fishes of the United States. Fish. and Fish. Ind. United States (U.S. Comm. Fish.) , Sect. 1, Pt. 3, pp. 163-682.

GOODE, GEORGE BROWN, AND TARLETON H. BEAN. 1895. Deep-sea and pelagic fishes of the world. SPecial Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. , No. 2 , pp. 1-553 ( + atlas of 417 fig.).

GRENFELL, W. T. 1909. Labrador, the country and its people. Macmillan, New York, 497 pp. HALKETT, ANDREW. 1913. Check list of the fishes of the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland.

King's Printer, Ottawa, 138 pp. HANTZSCH, VON BERNHARD. 1909. Beitrage zur Kenntnis des nordostlichsten Labradors. Mitt.

Vereins Erdkunde Dresden, 8: 168-229, 9: 245-320.

HARVEY, M. 1877. [Editor's note on receipt of letter from Rev. Moses Harvey with the infor­mation that a basking shark had been caught in Conception Bay, Newfoundland in August, 1876]. Nature, 15(378) : 273-274.

HATTON, JOSEPH, AND M. HARVEY. 1883. Newfoundland-Its history, its present condition, and its prospects in the future. Doyle and Whittle, Boston, 431 pp.

HUBBS, CARL L. 1923. Notes on a small collection of fishes from Monhegan Island, Maine. Copeia for 1923, No. 123, pp. 101-103.

49

HUNTSMAN, A. G. 1922. The fishes of the Bay of Fundy. Contrib. Canadian BioI., 1921, No. 3 : 49-72.

JACKSON, C. T. 1854. [Capture of a basking shark off Saint John, N.B.] . Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 4: 202-205.

JEFFERS, G. W. 1932. Fishes observed in the Strait of Belle Isle. Contrib. Canadian BioI. Fish., N.S., 7( 16): 203-2 1 1 .

JENSEN, AD. S . 1948. Contributions t o the ichthyofauna o f Greenland 8-24. Spolia Zool. Mus. Haununsis, Univ. Zoo!. Mus. K¢benhavn, 9 : 1-182.

JONES, MATTHEW J. 1882. List of the fishes of Nova Scotia. Proc. Trans. Nova Scotian Inst. Nat. Sci. (for 1879), 5( 1 ) : 87-97.

JORDAN, DAVID STARR, BARTON WARREN EVERMANN AND HOWARD WALTON CLARK. 1930. Check list of the fishes and fishlike vertebrates of North and Middle America. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish and Fisheries, 1928, Pt. 2 , pp. 1-670.

KENDALL, WILLIAM C. 1908. Fauna of New England. List of the Pisces. Occasional Papers Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 7(8) : 1-152.

KOTTHAUS, ADOLF, AND GERHARD KREFFT. 1957. Fischfaunenliste der Fahrten mit F.F.S. Anton Dohrn nach Island-Gronland. Ber. Deutschen Wiss. Komm. Meeresforsch. , 14(3) : 169-191.

LEIM, A. H. 1960. Records of uncommon fishes from waters off the Maritime Provinces of Canada. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, 17(5) : 731-733.

LEIM, A. H., AND L. R. DAY. 1959. Records of uncommon and unusual fishes from eastern Ca nadian waters, 1950-1958. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, 16(4): 503-5 14.

M'GONIGLE, R. H. , AND M. W. SMITH. 1936. Three rare fish from Passamaquoddy Bay, N.B. Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Sci., 19(2) : 160.

McKENZIE, R. A. 1939. Some marine fish and salp records. Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Sci. , 20( 1 ) : 13-20.

1940. Some marine records from Nova Scotian fishing waters. Ibid., 20(2) : 42-46. 1959. Marine and freshwater fishes of the Miramichi River and Estuary, New Bruns­

wick. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, 16(6): 807-833. MELANl;ON, CLAUDE. 1958. Les poissons de nos eaux. 3rd ed. La Societe Zoologique de Quebec,

254 pp. PERLEY, M. H. 1852. Reports on the sea and river fisheries of New Brunswick. Fredericton, 294

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carcharias (Linn.) in Nova Scotian waters. Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Sci. , 18(3) : 192-203. PRINCE, E. E., and A. H. MACKAY. 1901. The paired fins of the mackerel shark. Contrib. Ca­

nadian BioI. 1901 , No. 6, pp. 55-58. PROVANCHER, ABBE L. 1876. Faune Canadienne. Les poissons. Nat. Canadien, 8(8) : 225-230. PUTNAM, F. W. 1874. [Tooth of a man-eater that attacked a dory near St. Pierre Bank.] Bull.

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fathers of the Hudson Bay Vicariate], 52: 10-13. SAEMUNDSSON, BJARNI. 1922. Zoologiske Meddelelser fra Island XIV. Vid. Medd. Dansk Nat.

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50

SCATTERGOOD, LESLIE W. 1948. Notes on some Gulf of Maine fishes. Copeia for 1948, No. 2 , pp. 142-144.

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TIBBO, S. N. MS, 1962. Explorations for pelagic fish, 1961. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada Ann. Rept., Biol. Sta., St. Andrews, N.B. for 1961-62, App. No. 55, pp. 1 19-121 .

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VERRILL, A. E. 1872. Marine fauna of Eastport, Me. Bull. Essex Inst., 3( 1 ) : 2-6. VLADYKOV, VADIM D. 1933. Biological and oceanographic conditions in Hudson Bay. 9. Fishes

from the Hudson Bay region (except the Coregonidae). Contrib. Canadian Biol. Fish., N.S., 8(29) : 13-61.

1935. Some unreported and rare fishes for the coast of Nova Scotia. Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Sci., 19( 1 ) : 1-8.

MS, 1958. Liste des families de poissons d'eau salee du Quebec suivie d'une Iiste des especes capturees et leurs endroits de capture. Dept. Pl!ch. , Quebec, pp. 1-66.

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5 1

APPENDIX

TABLES I-XI

53

Spec. No.

1

2

3

1

2

3

TABLE 1. Records of the thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus in the Canadian area.

Year Date

1946 Aug. 2

1954 Last week July

1954 Oct. 4

Locality Length and sex

ft (em)

Observer or reporter and remarks

Newfoundland

St. John's

Danson Cove Bight, Bonavista Bay

Clattice Harbour, Placentia Bay

Ca. 12 cJ' Author. Apparently mature (370 ) judging from size of claspers.

18 (550 )

13 (400)

Codtrap.

D. R. Abbott and author. Drawing and measurements of tail of this shark given to author by Mr. Abbott. Upper lobe of tail 9 ft (270 cm) long. Codtrap.

R. L. Stevenson (Fishery In­spector). Information supplied by G. R. Williamson, who saw the tail of this shark (preserved as a trophy) and Mr. Steven­son's notes regarding it. Mack­erel gillnet.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (outside Gulf of St. Lawrence)

1893 Eastport, Passama- Kendall ( 1908). quoddy Bay

1936 Aug. 28 Deer Island, Bay of 16 McKenzie ( 1939). Herring weir . Fundy, N.B. (480 )

1960 Sept. 22 Off the Wolves at 12 . 8 A. H. Leim. (Day, MS, 1961). entrance to Passama- (391 ) Otter trawl. quoddy Bay

Note re shark lengths in Tables I-XI: The reader will need to use his judgment regarding the shark lengths tabulated. Often the lengths are only approximate estimates in feet and these are converted to centimetres correct to the nearest 10 cm. In some cases sizes are available in centi­metres and are converted to the nearest tenth of a foot. In others sizes are available in feet and inches and in these cases have been changed to the nearest tenth of a foot but for conversion to centimetres the original foot and inch measurements have been used. All Newfoundland records are overall lengths and in the case of the dogfishes and smaller sharks up to about 5 feet (150 cm) our records are the greatest lengths with the dorsal lobe of the caudal fin extending directly back­ward.

54

TABLE I I . Records of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, from the Canadian area (lb X 0.454 = kg).

Spec. No. Year Date

1 1873 or

1874

2 1956 Aug. 10

3 1956 Aug.

1 1938 Aug.

2 1942 Aug.

3 1943 Aug.

4 1949 Aug. 27

5 1962 July 30

6-8 1962 Aug. 1st week

9-10 1962 Aug. 1st week

Locality Length and sex

ft (cm)

Newfoundland area

St. Peters Bank Est. > 13 (St. Pierre Bank) ( >400 )

Ireland Bight, Ca. 12 Hare Bay, 14 fath (370 )

SE Grand Bank, Ca. 12-15 44°30'N, 50012'W (370-460 )

Gulf of St. Lawrence

Whale Head, N Shore St. Lawrence River

Isle Caribou, N Shore St. Lawrence River

"

Portneuf River estuary, N Shore St. Lawrence River

8 miles off Wallace, N.S. Northumberland Strait

"

"

55

9 (270 )

Ca. 10 (300 )

15 . 3 (467 )

Ca. 10 (300 )

< 10 « 300 )

Observer or reporter and remarks

Putnam (1874). Identified from teeth embedded in dory at-tacked by shark.

H. J, Squires, author and E. Trewavas. Two upper teeth sent to Biological Station. Codtrap leader.

A. Rojo, H. J. Squires and au-thor. Otter trawl Spanish trawl-er Santa Ines.

Vladykov and McAllister ( 1961).

"

"

" Shot by W. B. Scott.

W. G. Smith, Fishery Officer. Tooth examined by L. R. Day, W. B. Scott. Small porpoise in stomach. Hake gillnet.

W. G. Smith. Hake gillnet.

Observed by fishermen who landed the other white sharks. These 2 which were reported to be about 20 feet in length es­caped from the nets and were not landed. Information on spec­imens 5-10 in private commu­nication, L. R. Day, Oct. 19, 1962. Day says that No. 5 was definitely identified and that there is every reason to believe that No. 6-10 were correctly identified. No. 5-8 were landed at Wallace.

TABLE I I . Records of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, from the Canadian area (lb X 0.454= kg).-Concluded

Spec. No.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1 0

1 1

1 2

1 3

Year Date Locality Length and sex

ft (em)

Observer or reporter and remarks

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (apart from Gulf of St. Lawrence)

1872 Aug.

1920 June 27

1930 Mid-June

1932 July 2

1932 Shortly before Nov. 23

1938 Aug.

1949 Aug. 24

1952 Aug. 20

1953 July 9

1953 July 9-10

1953 Aug. 1 2

1953 Aug. 2 5

1954 Aug. 3

Eastport, Maine, U.S.A.

Off Hubbard Ca. 15 Cove, St. Margaret's (460 ) Bay, N.S., 44°36'31"N, 64°02'W

White Head Island (near Grand Manan, N.B.)

10 miles NW Digby Gut, N.S., 44°48'N, 65°51 'W

Harbour De Loutre, Campobello Island, N.B., 44°55'N, 66°55'W

Wedgeport, N .S.

Deer Island, N.B.

Area between Passamaquoddy Bay and Grand Manan Island, N.B.

Off Fourchu, Cape Breton Island, N.S.

Wedgeport, N.S.

La Have Islands, N.S.

St. Croix River near Dochet Island between Maine and N.B.

37 ( 1 130 )

Ca. 15 (460 )

26 (790 )

8 . 5 d' (260 )

12 . 7 9 (387 )

Ca. 14 (430 )

Ca. 12 (370 )

8 d' (240 )

15-16 (470 )

Goode ( 1884). Observation only.

Piers ( 1934). Identified from scars on boat attacked by shark, and from description of tooth embedded in boat.

Vladykov and McKenzie ( 1935). Identity according to informa­tion of V. D. Vladykov. Herring weir.

Piers ( 1934). Identified from tooth embedded in boat at­tacked by shark. Length esti­mated from size of tooth.

Piers ( 1934). Piers says prob­ably same as No. 4 but no evi­dence presented. Herring weir.

Anon. ( 1940). Caught by Mrs. M ichael Lerner by rod and line. 432 lb.

Scattergood, Trefethen and Cof­fin· ( 1951 ). 1299 lb. Immature. Herring weir.

Day and Fisher ( 1954). Full grown porpoise bitten in two by shark. Pale grey above and lighter ventrally. Observed by fisherman.

Day and Fisher ( 1954). Identi­fied from teeth embedded in dory attacked by shark.

Day and Fisher ( 1954). Rod and line (tuna fisherman).

Day and Fisher ( 1954). Herring trap.

Day and Fisher ( 1954). Har­bour seal with tail and right hind flipper bitten off a few minutes previously, very likely by a white shark.

Mace's Bay, Bay of Fundy, N.B.

8 . 5 Leim and Day ( 1959). Herring (260 ) weir.

56

TABLE I I I . Records of the basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, from the Canadian area.

Spec. No.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 1-13

14

15

Year Date Locality Length and sex

ft (em)

Observer or reporter and remarks

Newfoundland area

1876 Aug.

1934

1934

1936 July 13

1940 Summer

South Shore Conception Bay (Topsail)"

Petty Harbour

Placentia

Portugal Cove, Conception Bay

Notre Dame Bay

Ca. 1947 Early July St. Thomas, Conception Bay

1948 Early July

1949 July 9

Merasheen, Placentia Bay

Shag Rock, ! mile offshore, Fogo, Notre Dame Bay

1949 Early July Fogo, Notre Dame Bay

1949 Aug. 10

1950 July 3-20

Gooseberry Cove, Placentia Bay

Within a mile of Brimstone Head, Fogo Island

1950 Early July Birchy Cove Bight, Bonavista Bay

1952 June 19 Horse Cove, Conception Bay

5 7

30" (910 )

32 (980 )

Harvey ( 1877). Salmon giIInet. ", Hatton and Harvey ( 1883).

Anon. ( 1935). Codtrap.

Anon. ( 1935).

Nancy Frost. Faunal record BioI. Sta., Bay Bulls.

25-30 S.N. Tibbo. Observed at close ( 760-910 ) quarters from small boat.

25 (760 )

25 . 5 (777 )

29 . 5 (899 )

12 (370 )

G. E. Tucker, Tech. St. John's Sta. Salmon giIInet.

Rev. F. G. Kirby. Readily rec­ognizable drawing of shark and description of very small teeth sent to author. Cod trap.

A. M. Fleming. Also photo­graph. 5 barrels liver. Salmon giIInet.

Brian C. Earle, Fogo. Mr. Earle who had previously seen basking shark No. 8 with Mr. Fleming says that previous to summer of 1949 basking sharks had never been seen in the neighbourhood of Fogo within the living memory of the fisher­men. Codtrap.

H. D. MacGiIIivary, St. John's. Readily identifiable drawing brought to author. Tail entan­gled in anchor rope, salmon giII­net.

25-30 Brian C. Earle, Fogo. Personal (760-910 ) letter to author. 3 basking

sharks. Codtraps.

25-30 (840 )

30 (910 )

D. R. Abbott, Bonavista. Per­sonal report to author. Ca. 10 barrels liver. Shark had gill slits right up side of neck from top to bottom. Shark a good deal longer than 22 ft boat from which observations were taken. Salmon trap.

Evening Telegram, St. John's, June 20, 1952. Photograph and article. Salmon giIInet.

TABLE I I I. Records of the basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, from the Canadian area.-Conlinueit

Spec. No.

16

1 7

18-20

2 1

2 2

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

3 1

3 2

Year Date

1952 Before July 24

1952 July 28

1953 Aug. 23

1954 July 24

1955 July 9

1955 July 26

1955 July 30

1955 July 3 1-Aug. 1

1955 Aug. 1-10

1955 Aug. 1-10

1957 July 28

1960 July 4

1960 July 2 7

1961 July 14

1961 July 20

Locality Length and sex

ft (em)

Observer or reporter and remarks

Newfoundland area-con tinued

English Harbour W, Trinity Bay

Black Head, between St. John's and Cape Spear

Deadman's Bay, between Bonavista Bay and Notre Dame Bay

Littleport, Bay of Islands

Joe Batt's Arm, Notre Dame Bay

St. John's

Coley's Point, Conception Bay

Summerville, Bonavista Bay

Chance Cove, Trinity Bay

Bellevue, Trinity Bay

Flatrock, Conception Bay

St. Phillips, Conception Bay

New Harbour, Trinity Bay

Portugal Cove, Conception Bay

Brent's Cove, N of La Scie

58

30 (910 )

22 � (670 )

One est. 35

(1070 )

Ca. 25 (760 )

29 (880 )

23 (700 )

25 (760 )

22 (670 )

25 (760 )

Ca. 22 (670 )

24 (730 )

Daily News, St. John's, July 24, 1952 and Mr. G. Patten, Fishery Officer, 10 barrels liver, very tiny teeth (no teeth according to the report). Net.

D. E. Sergeant, St. John's Biological Station. Codtrap.

L. M. Tuck, Migratory Bird Officer, St. John's. 3 basking sharks swimming-1, est. 35 ft long, 20 ft from small boat in which Mr. Tuck was travelling. Length est. in comparison boat length.

H. J. Squires. Herring gillnet.

Basil French, Manager Fishery Products Plant, Joe Batt's Arm. Large gill slits mentioned. Also Sunday Herald, St. John's, Aug. 14, 1955. Codtrap.

H. J. Squires. Cod trap.

Fishery Officer. Cod trap.

Radio report CJON. Codtrap.

Fishery Officer. Cod trap.

Fishery Officer. Cod trap.

Evening Telegram, St. John's, July 30, 1957-photograph. Codtrap.

Ca. 25 0' G. E. Tucker, Tech. St. John's (760 ) Sta. Salmon gillnet.

26 (790 )

35-40 ( 1070-1220)

A. M. Fleming and author, from photographs. Codtrap.

Evening Telegram, St. John's, July 15, 1961. Salmon gillnet.

Ca. 30 0' A. M. Fleming. Salmon gillnet. (910 )

TABLE II I. Records of the basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, from the Canadian area.-Continued

Spec. No. Year Date

33 1961 Mid-Sept.

34 Ca. 1958 July

3 5-42 1962

43-56 1962

Early July

Early July several days after observing No. 34-41

Locality Length and sex

ft (em)

Observer or reporter and remarks

Newfoundland area-continued

! mile from S tip Bell Island on line from S tip Bell Island to Harbour Grace, Conception Bay

Burgeo

Burgeo Harbour S coast N fid.

Close to islands near Burgeo

59

Ca. 30 (910 )

Observed by Ferd Hayward of St. John's. Shark large and grey­ish rolling lazily at surface was struck by Mr. Hayward's boat 15 feet long. Shark was twice as long as boat. Shark moving slow­ly at surface, not enough to rip­ple the water. The dorsal and tip of tail of shark protruded from the water and were thought to be 2 tuna and boat attempting to go between these 2 struck the shark. Distance from tip of tail to dorsal about equal to 15-foot length of boat.

Very large Entangled in net. Photograph from Fishery Officer G. C. Slade.

Est. ca. Observed by Fishery Officer 30-35 G. C. Slade. Information sent to

(910-1070 ) author Sept. 26, 1962 with photograph of a basking shark said to be similar and caught several years previously. Larga numbers of these basking sharks reported by fishermen in July 1962 from S coast Newfound­land between Rencontre West and Petites. Sharks destroyed salmon nets. The sharks ap­peared about the last of June and disappeared near the end of July. Description by fishery officer adequate for identifica­tion.

25-35 Fishery Officer G. C. Slade. (760-1070 ) Sharks on surface feeding with

mouth wide open and close to 42-foot boat. Length estimated from boat length. Smallest 25 feet, almost all 30-35 feet. Some of these may have been seen previously in Burgeo Harbour but reports of sharks and of nets injured were so frequent and widespread that Mr. Slade thinks there were probably at least 40 of these sharks in the area between Rencontre West and Petites. Individuals were observed by him on many other occasions but are not included here. Most of these sharks were within 50 yards of the shore.

TABLE I I I . Records of the basking shark, Celorhiitus maximus, from the Canadian area.-Conlinued

Spec. Length Observer or reporter No. Year Date Locality and sex and remarks

fl (cm)

Newfoundland area-concluded

57 1962 July Grand Bruit 32 Fishery Officer G. C. Slade. South coast Nfld. (975 ) Entangled in net. Tail 7.5-foot

span brought ashore by fish-ermen.

58-59 1962 Early Aug. Ramea Large Fishery Officer John A. Rogers. South coast Nfld.

60-61 1962 Early Aug. Burgeo Ca. 40 " ( 1220 )

Gulf of St. Lawrence

1 1833 June 1 7 Little Natashquan 6 . 5 John James Audubon. (Audu-5001 2'N 61°53'W (200) bon, 1960). Stranded after being

wounded by harpoon.

2 1952 Late Aug. East Bathurst, N.B. 14 Fishery Officer. Leim and Day (425 ) ( 1959).

3 1952 Sept. 3 Riviere-Madeleine Observed by Pierre BruneI (pri-(Gaspe-North) vate communication P. BruneI,

Oct. 15, 1962, including No. 3, 4, 7-10, 15, 16-25).

4 1953 Aug. 2 6 Between Perce Rock " and Bonaventure Shark swimming close to obser-Island (Gaspe- ver. South)

5 1954 June 7 Entry Island Magdalen Islands

Julien Bergeron (private com-munication including photo-graph, Nov. 9, 1961). Har-pooned in shallow water.

6 1955 July 29 A few hundred feet Ca. 25 Observed by Pierre BruneI. Ap-offshore from (760 ) proached within a yard of shark Biological Station swimming on surface. at Grande-Riviere (Gaspe-South)

7-10 1958 Aug. 2nd half

Beaufils Bay, Grande-Riviere

Observed by Pierre BruneI. 4 basking sharks seen, 3 of them hit by boat containing observer.

1 1 1959 July 15 Near Cape Gaspe BruneI (MS, 1960). Observed.

12 1959 July 23 Near Grande-Riviere "

13 1961 Aug. 10 1.5 miles from Sight record by M. Tiphane and Grande-Riviere G. Lacroix (BruneI, MS, 1962).

14 1961 Sept. 19 Mont Louis, 24 Anon. ( 1962). Photograph and Gaspe, Que. (730 ) story. Herring gill net.

15 1962 Aug. Miscou Bank Observed by Captain research last week vessel of BioI. Sta., Grande-

Riviere.

16-25 1962 Mid-Sept. Grande-Riviere, Observed by 2 fishermen on staff close to shore BioI. Sta., Grande-Riviere.

60

TABLE III . Records of the basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, from the Canadian area.-Continued

Spec, No. Year Date Locality

Length and sex

ft (cm)

Observer or reporter and remarks

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (apart from Gulf of St. Lawrence)

1 1851 Aug. 6 Musquash Harbour, 40 Perley ( 1852), Jackson ( 1854).

2 1868

3-5 1870 Summer

6 1934 Summer

7 1934 Sept. 21

8 1936 Aug. 4

9 1937 July

10 1938 Sept. 7

1 1 1939 July 4

12 1939 Aug. 16

13 1947 Aug. 23

14 1947 Sept. 12

15 1947 Sept. 17

16 1953 Aug. 27

17 1953 Aug.

18 1953 Sept. 13

19 1954 July 29

20 1958 July

2 1 1959 June 26

Bay of Fundy, N.B. ( 1220 ) Liver yielded 320 gallons oil.

Eastport, Maine

Eastport and Lubec, Maine

Whale Cove, Grand Manan, N.B.

Mace's Bay, Bay of Fundy, N.B.

Back Bay, Bay of Fundy, N.B.

Mouth La Have River, N.S.

French Village, St. Margaret's Bay, N.S.

Sandford, Yarmouth, N.S.

Digby, N.S.

Welchpool, Campobello Island, N.B.

St. Andrews, N.B.

Welchpool, Campobello Island, N.B.

Devils Head, N.S.

Apple Tree Cove, Lunenburg Co., N.S.

Mace's Bay, Bay of Fundy, N.B.

Green Cove, near Letite, Bay of Fundy, N.B.

S end Grand Manan, N.B.

Scotian Shelf, 44°24'N, 62°20'W

61

Herring gillnet.

35 d" Verrill ( 1872). ( 1070 )

25-30 d" Verrill ( 1872). 3 specimens (760-910 ) stranded by tide.

29 McKenzie ( 1939). Herring gill-(880 ) net.

16 . 5 Leim and Day ( 1959). Herring (500 ) weir.

28 McKenzie ( 1939). Herring weir. (850 )

1 1 .3 McKenzie ( 1939). (340 )

24 . 5 (750 )

McKenzie ( 1939). Mackerel trap.

2 5 . 3 d" McKenzie ( 1940). (770 )

12 McKenzie ( 1940). 354 lb when (370 ) bled.

12 (370 )

12 (370 )

28 . 5 (870 )

24 (730 )

40 ( 1220 )

Ca. 30 (900 )

Scattergood ( 1948). Liver, 359 lb. Harpooned.

Scattergood ( 1948). Liver 327 lb. Herring weir.

Scattergood ( 1948). Liver 253 lb. Herring weir.

Leim and Day ( 1959). Identified by W. J. Dyer.

Leim and Day ( 1959). News­paper account.

Leim and Day ( 1959). Identified by H. D. Fisher.

Leim and Day ( 1959). Herring weir.

Leim and Day ( 1959). News­paper account.

Backus ( 1960). One specimen observed alive by scientific per­sonnel U.S. research vessel, Crawford.

TABLE I II. Records of the basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, from the Canadian area.-Concluded

Spec. No.

22-5 1

52

Spec. No.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Year Date Locality Length and sex

ft (em)

Observer or reporter and remarks

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (apart from Gulf of St. Lawrenee)-concluded

1959 June 27

1960 Aug. 12

Slightly seaward of Scotian Shelf, 42°15'N, 64°46'W

Moose Harbour, Queen's County, N.S.

Up to 30

(900 )

26 (790 )

Backus ( 1960). About 30 speci­mens observed alive by scientific personnel in an hour's steam of U.S. research vessel, Crawford.

Day (MS, 1961).

TABLE IV. Records of the porbeagle, Lamna nasus, from the Canadian area.

Year Date

1929 July 16

1931 Aug. 1 7

1934 March

1940 Aug.

1946 June 28

1949 Sept. 12

1950 Jan. 3 1

1950 June 1 9

1951 Aug. 28

Locality Length and sex

ft (em)

Newfoundland area

Raleigh, Pistolet Bay

Bay Bulls

Whale Deep, Grand Bank

Fogo, Notre Dame Bay

SE Shoal, Grand Bank, 44°27'N, 50000'W

St. John's

SW Grand Bank, 44°30'N 53°16'W 67-72 f;th '

SW Grand Bank, 44°27'N 53°lO'W 75 fath '

,

Cuckold's Cove, near St. John's

62

8 . 5 (259)

Ca. 6 (180 )

7 . 9 (241 )

8 . 6 (263 )" 9

7 . 2 (2 18)" 9

9 .3 9 (283 )

Observer or reporter and remarks

Jeffers ( 1932). Stomach contents 1 cod, 2 capelin, 1 pint fish bones, mostly cod.

Anon. ( 1933). Linetrawl.

Anon. ( 1935), B. Blackwood. Otter trawl, research vessel Cape Agulhas.

Author.

Dr. A. M. Ramalho. Bigelow and Schroeder ( 1948).

Author. Spiny dogfish in stomach. Liver 52 lb. Herring gill net.

Teeth and tail checked by au­thor. Immature. Otter trawl, Blue Spray.

G. L. Handrigan, St. John's Biological Station. Teeth and photographs checked by author. Otter trawl, Blue Foam.

Author and H. J. Squires. Liver 43 lb. Stomach contents, 1 fish hook and skeletons 2 cod. Mac­kerel gill net.

TABLE IV. Records of the porbeagle, Lamna nasus, from the Canadian area.-Continued

Spec. No.

10

1 1

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

2 1

2 2

23

24

Year Date

1952 Sept. 16

1953 Feb. 7

1955 Feb. 10

1956 Jan. 2 1

1958 June 19

1958 Sept. 9

1958 Nov. 7

1959 May

1960 July 10

1960 July 1 1

1960 July 1 1

1960 July 1 1

1960 July 13

1960 July 17

1960 July 19

Locality Length and sex

ft (em)

Observer or reporter and remarks

Newfoundland area-continued

Inshore area St. John's

SW Grand Bank, 44°37'N, 53°18'W, 59-60 fath

SW Grand Bank, 44°10'N, 52°lO'W, 50-51 fath

SW Grand Bank 44°33'N 53°31'W 60-70 f�th '

New Harbour, Trinity Bay

Sugar Loaf, St. John's

Off Cape Spear, near St. John's

St. Phillips, Conception Bay

SE Shoal, Grand Bank, 44°1 1 '30"N, 49°41'W, 25-27 fath

"

"

"

"

"

"

63

4 .4 Cf' H. J. Squires. Linetrawl. (134)

Ca.. 8 <.i? 3 young 40-43 em examined by (240 ) H. J. Squires and author. Otter

trawl, Blue Foam.

7 . 6 <.i? (232 )

Head, teeth and tail, also 4 young 45-46 em long examined by author and A. M. Fleming. Otter trawl, Blue Foam.

Ca. 4 young 41-42 em examined by 1 1-12 <.i? author and A. M. Fleming. Otter (340-370 ) trawl, Blue Foam.

8 (240 )

Ca. 7 <.i? (210 )

Ca. 7 (210 )

Evening Telegram, St. John's, July 5, 1958. Photograph, lateral view. Salmon gill net.

H. J. Squires and author. Her­ring gillnet.

Evening Telegram, St. John's, Nov. 10, 1958. Excellent photo­graph of specimen suspended in lateral view. Linetrawl entan­gled around tail.

Ca. 8 <.i? G. E. Tucker, St. John's Sta. 4 (240 ) photographs various views

checked by author.

Ca. 7 (210 )

Ca. 7 (210 )

Ca. 7 (210 )

Ca. 7 (210 )

Ca. 7 (210 )

Ca. 6 .5 (200 )

Ca. 7 (210 )

V. M Hodder, BioI. St. John's Sta. General appearance includ­ing relative position of fins and appearance of teeth and pre­sence of basal denticles on teeth as in Lamna nasus checked on all of these sharks. All sharks of same size and similar in appear­ance. Est. between 250 and 300 lb. Caught by otter trawl, A. T. Cameron 1 in each of 7 I-hour sets between set 174 and set 2 19. Surface temperatures 13.0 to 14. 1°C. Bottom temperatures 3 .1 to 4. 1 °C.

TABLE IV. Records of the porbeagle, Lamna nasus, from the Canadian area.-Continued

Spec. No.

25-39

40

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 1

1 2

1 3

14

Year Date

1960 July 1 1-19

1962

1863 or

earlier 1863

1886 or

earlier

1886 or

earlier

1904

Sept.

1943 Sept. 9

1943 Sept. 10

1948 Sept. 16

1948 Sept. 20

1950 July 26

1950 July 26

1950 Sept. 1

1955 June 10

1955 Aug. 30

Locality Length and sex

ft (cm)

Newfoundland area-concluded

"

St. Joseph's Salmonier Arm, St. Mary's Bay

Ca. 7 (210 )

Gulf of St. Lawrence

Matane, Que.

Magdalen Islands

Gulf of St. Lawrence

"

Anticosti Island

Cawee Island, Saguenay County, Que.

Wolf Bay, Saguenay County, Que.

Godbout, Saguenay County, Que.

Whale Head, Que.

Great Mecatina Island, Que.

"

La Tabatiere. Saguenay County, N.B.

House Harbour, Magdalen Islands

"

64

7 (2 10) if

9 . 8 (300 )

9 (270 )

8 . 2 (249 )

9 . 1 (277 )

7 (210 )

7 . 4 (226 )

7 . 2 (218 )

7 . 8 (238 )

5 . 7 ( 1 73 )

8 . 5 (258 )

Observer or reporter and remarks

15 caught at night by hook and line identified as above by V. M. Hodder, but basal denticles checked on 1 specimen only.

Author. Photograph and infor­mation from Dr. F. A. Aldrich.

Fortin ( 1864).

" " Mackerel gill net.

Whiteaves ( 1886).

"

Schmitt (1904). "A Lamna" which we presume to be this species. Caught on cod lines.

Vladykov (MS, 1958). Private communication Julien Bergeron, Jan. 5, 1962.

"

"

"

"

" Herring gillnet.

"

Julien Bergeron (private com­munication, Jan. 5, 1962).

"

TABLE IV. Records of the porbeagle, Lamna nasus, from the Canadian area.-Concluded

Spec. No.

15

16

17

18

2

3

4

5

6

7-15

16-21

22

Year Date

1956 Oct. 22

1957 Aug. 8

1961 Sept. 21

1961 Oct. 2

Locality Length and sex

ft (cm)

Gulf of St. Lawrence-concluded

NE of Brion Island, Magdalen Islands

Escuminac Point, N.B.

Grindstone Island, Magdalen Islands, 200 ft from shore

6 180

Ca. 1 1 (340 )

7 . 4 <;1 (226 )

7 . 3 6'

Observer or reporter and remarks

Julien Bergeron (private com­munication, Jan. 5, 1962) .

McKenzie ( 1959).

Julien Bergeron (private com­munication, Jan. 5, 1962 ). 320 lb. Smelt gill net.

" House Harbour, Magdalen Islands (223 ) 290 lb.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (apart from Gulf of St. Lawrence)

1900 Aug.

1933 or

earlier

1935 Oct. 3

1948 or

earlier

1961 Aug. 18

1961 Aug. 18

1961 Oct. 6

1961 Oct. 7

1962 Nov. 12

Probably Passamaquoddy Bay, N.B.

Nova Scotia

Passamaquoddy Bay, N.B.

Sable Island Bank, 42°37'N, 60055'W

S Scotian Shelf, 42°30'N. 66006'W

"

S Scotian Shelf, 42°57'N, 67003'W, 130 fath

Scotian Shelf, 43°20'N, 66°56'W, 1 10 fath

Off La Have Bank 42°39'23"N 64°15'08"W 250-335 fath

6 . 8 <;1 (208 )

3 . 0 <;1 (91)

Prince and MacKay ( 1901 ).

Piers ( 1934). Piers says por­beagles examined by him from Nova Scotia had basal dentic1es on the teeth.

M'Gonigle and Smith ( 1936).

Bigelow and Schroeder ( 1948). Study material.

S. N. Tibbo (private communi­cation, Dec. 14, 1961) . Longline, Harengus. Length is fork length.

"

5 . 3-6 . 9 S. N. Tibbo (private communi­( 160-210 ) cation, Dec. 14, 1961). 9 por­

(7 6' ) beagles 132-300 (average 217) (2 <;1 ) lb. Longline, A. T. Cameron.

4 . 9-6 . 6 ( 150-201 )

(6 6' )

4 . 1 ( 125 )

Length is fork length.

S. N. Tibbo (private communi­cation, Dec. 14, 1961). 6 por­beagles, 162-329 (average 244) lb. Longline, A. T. Cameron. Length is fork length.

E. J. Sandeman and author. In stomach of Green'iand shark. Size ca lculated from head length. Otter trawl, A. T. Cameron. Bottom temp. 4.5°C.

" Greatest total length with upper lobe of caudal fin extended directly backward.

6S

TABLE IVA. Relative success of longline fishing for porbeagles by Norwegian vessels in different areas of the western Atlantic, 1961.

No. Average no. No. of No. Lamna Lamna nasus

Locality Date sets hooks nasus per 100 hooks

A. March-May 1961 Flemish Cap 1 1 2 . 3 SE Grand Bank 1 0 Banquereau 1 1 .9 Sable Island Bank 9 6 Western Bank 15 14 . 7 Entrance Gulf of Maine 3 20 .3

B . July-September 1961 St. Pierre Bank Aug. 14 1 480 7 1 . 5 St. Pierre Bank Sept. 5-12 5 3 , 744 252 6 . 7 Placentia Bay Sept. 3-4 2 1 , 188 33 2 . 8 Artimon Bank Aug. 15-19 6 3 , 200 141 4 . 4 M isaine Bank Aug. 20-Sept. 2 12 7 , 200 288 4 .0 St. Ann's Bank Aug. 29 1 640 17 2 . 7 Browns-Sable Island 3 0 Banks Georges Bank 10 14 . 8 Cashes Ledge, 7 1 2 . 9 Gulf of Maine July-Aug. 13 Platt and 7 13 . 3 Ammen Banks, Gulf of Maine

Note: There were generally about 500-600 hooks in a set. The majority of the hooks were operating in 150-200 m in A and in 10-30 m in B.

66

TABLE V. Young porbeagles taken from female Lamna nasus caught on the southern Grand Bank. (All lengths of young are greatest total lengths with upper lobe of caudal fin extending directly

No. adult

female Location Date Length parent of of female

( Table I ) capture capture parent

ft (em)

1 1 SW Grand Feb. 7 , Ca. 8 Bank 1953 (240 )

12 SW Grand Feb. 10, 7 . 6 Bank 1955 (232 )

13 SW Grand Jan. 21, Ca. Bank 1956 1 1-12

(340-370 )

back. )

Length

Weight Weight of of

young young includ- exclud- Weight

ing ing of of stomach stomach stomach

young yolk yolk yolk Remarks

em lb lb lb

Newfoundland

43 3 young. 40 3 .9 40 4 . 3

Newfoundland

45 . 2 � 6 . 1 1 . 9 4 . 2 4 young. 2 i n each 46 . 2 d' oviduct. Claspers ex-45 . 5 � tend 0.3 cm beyond 44 . 8 � 5 . 9 1 . 8 4 . 1 tip of pelvic fin. No

external gills in any of the 4 young.

Newfoundland

41 . 7 d' 3 . 5 4 young. 2 in each 42 . 2 � oviduct. Lengths and 40 . 6 d' 3 . 1 weights out of 10 %

41 . 4 d' formalin.

67

TABLE VI. Records of Apristurus profundorum in the Canadian area. (All specimens were caught by otter trawl.)

Spec. Bottom Apris- Total No. Year Date Locality Position Depth temp. tuniS length Observer and remarks

fath °C no. cm

Newfoundland area

1 1953 July 13 SW slope Grand Bank 43°59'N, 300-400 Author. Investigator II. 2 egg cases 52°36'W each with living embryo and pre-

sumed to be from this species, attached to hydroid.

2 1957 Oct. 7 Southern slope Haddock 44°50'N, 140-142 6 . 2 Author. Investigator II. 1 egg case Channel 54°lO'W with living egg.

0\ 3 1959 May 12 SW slooe Grand Bank 43°36'N, 400 4 . 1 V. M . Hodder and author. A . T. 00 52°25'W Cameron. 1 egg case with 5.5-cm

embryo.

Scotian Shelf

1952 July 26 Seaward slope Scotian 42°39'N, 460-470 1 1 . 5 cJ' W. C. Schroeder (private communi-Shelf off La Have Bank 63°54'W cation, Aug. 24, 1962). Cap'n Bill

II.

2 1953 July 12 " 42°40'N, 415-420 4 . 3 5 7 . 5 '¥ " 63°52'W

3-4 1953 July 12 " 42°40'N, 520-545 4 . 5 2 1 7 . 5, " 63°54'W 1 7 . 5

5 1962 Nov. 22 Off Sable Island Bank 43°29'35"N 325-400 4 . 0 E. J . Sandeman and author. A . T. 59°46'45"W Cameron. 1 empty egg case attached

to hydroid similar to that of Nfid. spec. No. 1 .

TABLE VII. Records of the blue shark, Prionace glauca, from the Canadian area.

Spec. Length Observer or reporter No. Year Date Locality and sex and remarks

ft (cm)

Newfoundland area

1 1934 Mar. 20 SW Grand Bank, 9 Anon. ( 1935), B. Blackwood. 44°40'N, 53°10'W, 270 Otter trawl Cape Agulhas. Temp. 56 fath bottom 4.4°C, surface 2.5°C.

2 1942 Sept. 2 St. John's, 5 . 1 <.i? Author. Immature. Handline ca. 20 fath ( 155 ) with mackerel bait.

3 1947· Sept. 16 SE Shoal, Grand 9 . 9 <.i? Author. Otter trawl Investigator Bank, 43°47'N, (302 ) II. 50020'W, 38 fath

4 1949 Aug. 15 SE Grand Bank, 4 . 7 0' Author. Round weight 20.5 lb. 43°40'N, 49°48'W (142 ) Stomach contents, haddock.

Handline, Investigator II.

S 1951 Aug. 21 St. John's 5 . 2 0' Author. Round weight 25 lb. ( 160 ) Immature. Handline.

6 1952 Aug. 29 St. John's 7 . 1 <.i? H. J. Squires and author. Round (216 ) weight 89 lb, liver 8.8 lb. Stom-

ach contents, spiny dogfish, 62 cm long. Immature. Linetrawl.

7 1952 Aug. 29 St. John's, 35 fath 4 . 2 <.i? H. J. Squires and author. Round (127 ) weight 14.5 lb, liver 1 . 1 lb.

Stomach contents, more than 30 squid beaks, squid bait, cod. Immature. Linetrawl.

8 1960 Sept. 9 Cape Pine, 18 fath Ca. 3 A. M . Fleming. Longline Mat-(90 ) thew II. (Captain of ship said

other sharks like this specimen had been caught in this area during the fishing season. )

Gulf of St. Lawrence

1 1943 Sept. 17 Barachois, Que. Vladykov and McAllister ( 1961).

2 1943 Sept. 17 " "

3 1952 Miminegash, P.E.I. 5 Leim and Day ( 1959). Observed ( 150 ) by L. P. Chaisson, BioI.

4 1956 Aug. 27 Newhall Ground, 8 Julien Bergeron (private com-Magdalen Islands (240 ) munication, Jan. 5, 1962). Mr.

Bergeron says that blue sharks are very common around the Bird Rock and Brion Island, Magdalen Islands in July and August.

S 1960 Sept. 1 1 mile E of Bird 4 . 8 <.i? " Rock, Magdalen Islands

( 145 )

69

TABLE VII. Records of the blue shark, Prionace glauca, from the Canadian area.-Concluded

Spec. No.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10-25

26-39

40

41

42

Length Observer or reporter Year Date Locality and sex and remarks

ft (cm)

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (apart from Gulf of St. Lawrence)

1895 Halifax, N.S.

1901-02 Prob. Aug.a Canso, N.S.

1901-02 Prob. Aug.a Canso, N.S.

1909 Sept. Halifax, N.S.

1920 Sept. 23 Halifax, N.S.

1920 Oct. 10 Halifax, N.S.

1931 Aug. 12 NW Banquereau, 44°50'N, 59°49'W, 22-27 fath

1934 Sept. 9 W of Sable Island, 44°lO'N, 60045'W

1951 Summer St. Margaret's Bay, N.S.

1961 Aug. 17 S Scotian Shelf, 42°30'N, 65054'W

1961 Aug. 18 S Scotian Shelf, 42°30'N, 66°06'W

1961 Oct. 6 S Scotian Shelf, 42°57'N, 67°03'W, 130 fath

1961 Oct. 6 "

1962 Nov. 12 Off La Have Bank 42°39'23"N 64°15'08"W 250-335 fath

Bigelow and Welsh (1925). In-formation in letter from Harry Piers.

4 . 7 Cornish ( 1907). Measured from (142 ) snout to concavity of tail.

4 . 7 " (144 )

Piers ( 1934). One of these 3 (No. 4--6) was 10.4 ft (317 cm) long (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925)

"

"

Anon. ( 1932).

0' Vladykov (1935). Vladykov does not list this shark but records a remora which was removed from a male blue shark.

Leim and Day ( 1959). Many blue sharks observed by L. R. Day.

5 . 5-10 S. N. Tibbo (private communi-(170-300 ) cation, Dec. 14, 1961). 16 blue

( 1 2 0' ) sharks captured. All lengths for (4 � ) specimens 10-41 are fork length.

Longline, Harengus.

4 . 5-8 8 " (137-269 )

(8 0' ) 14 blue sharks.

(6 � )

4 . 0 � " ( 122 ) Longline, A. T. Cameron.

5 .9 � " (180 ) Longline, A. T. Cameron.

7 . 5 E . J. Sandeman and author. I n (230 ) stomach of Greenland shark.

Jaws only. Size calculated from length of teeth a nd Bigelow and Schroeder ( 1948).

" Cornish compiled his list of fishes in July and August. In view of the other records for this species his records for the blue shark were probably obtained in August.

70

TABLE VIII. Records of Etmopterus princeps in the Canadian area. (All specimens were caught by otter trawl.)

Spec. Bottom Etmop- Total No. Year Date Locality Position Depth temp. terus length Observer and remarks

fath °C no. em

Nova Scotian Shelf

1 1949 June 17 Seaward slope Scotian 42°38'N, 440-460 31 . 5 <;? W. C. Schroeder (private communi-Shelf off La Have Bank 64°04'W cation, Aug. 24, 1962). Caryn.

2 1952 July 25 " 42°39'N, 63°38'W

310-320 1 50 " Cap'nBiU II.

3-5 1952 July 26 " 42°39'N, 63°58'W

520 3 " "

6 1952 July 26 " 42°39'N, 460-470 " " 63°54'W

7-8 1952 July 27 " 42°40'N, 400-460 2 35, 35 " " � 64°06'W ....

9-17 1952 July 28 " 42°19'N, 64°59'W

390-440 9 30-40 " "

18 1952 July 28 " 42°16'N, 65°08'W

370-420 1 3 7 . 5 " "

19 1953 July 12 " 42°40'N, 63°54'W

520-545 4 . 5 1 40 6' "

20 1953 July 13 " 42°38'N, 64°lO'W

460-475 4 . 0 1 32 . 5 " "

2 1 1953 July 13 " 42°34'N, 495-515 4 . 0 1 39 " " 64°15'W

22 1953 July 14 " 42°32'N, 64°19'W

360-420 4 . 2 1 " "

23 1953 July 14 " 42°29'N, 64°21'W

420-500 4 . 2 " "

24-25 1959 Nov. 9 " 42°31'N, 350-400 4 . 4 2 2 1 6' E . J . Sandeman and author. A . T. 64°28'W 2 6 6' Cameron.

TABLE IX. Records of the Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus, from the Canadian area.

Spec. No.

1

2

3

Year Date

1960 Summer

1961 Summer

1962 July

1-10 1957-58 Winter

11-30 1958-59 Winter and and spring

1 1959 Aug. 24

1 1883 Aug. 30

2 1884 Aug. 10

3 1927 Sept. 1 7

4 1948 Aug. 5

5 1949

6 1949

7-9 1949

Locality Length and sex

jt (em)

Northwest Territories

Resolute, on Cornwallis Island 74°41'N, 94°54'W

"

"

Ca. 5 ( 150 )

Ca. 5 ( 150 )

Ca. 6 (180 )

Baffin Bay ( Canadian side)

Observer or reporter and remarks

G. M. Bell, Constable-in-charge Resolute Bay Detachment, R.C.M.P. (Private communica­tion, Dec. 29, 1962.)

"

" Taken by shooting and har­pooning about 50 yards off beach in about 10 feet of water.

Pond Inlet, NE 7-(at least) Rousseliere (1959). About 10 corner Baffin Island, 10 taken in a few days through hole 72°45'N, 77040'W (210-300 ) in ice, with handline and single

"

Davis Strait ( Canadian side)

Off Cape Dyer, 5 . 3 � Baffin Island, (161 ) 66°47'N 60053'W 200 fath' ,

Ungava Bay

Mouth Koksoak 10 . 1 River (309 )

Mouth Koksoak River

Port Burwell

Port Burwell

Port Burwell

Port Burwell

Port Burwell

72

1 1 . 2 (340 )

7 . 9 (240 )

10 . 1 (307 )

12 . 2 0' (371 )

9 . 5 0' (290 )

hook.

Annual Game Rept. , R.C.M.P., Pond Inlet. (Private communi­cation, H. D. Fisher, July 11 , 1962.) Total about 20 through hole in ice with handline and single hook.

Author. 84 lb. Diam . .largest egg 0.5 mm. Immature. Otter trawl, A. T. Cameron. Bottom temp. - 0.48°C.

Turner (MS, 1885). Weight ca. 400 lb. Liver about 1/6 weight of shark. Salmon giIInet.

Turner (MS, 1885). Liver 13 gallons. Stomach contents piece of fat from white whale 8 X 5 X l". Salmon giIInet.

Vladykov ( 1933). Hook and line.

Dunbar and Hildebrand (1952) Stranded.

Dunbar and Hildebrand (1952). Calanus. One (of No. 5 and 6) caught by longline and 1 shot at surface.

"

Dunbar and Hildebrand (1952). Two seen by Calanus party and 1 reported by commercial vessel.

TABLE IX. Records of the Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus, from the Canadian area. -Continued

Spec. Length Observer or reporter No. Year Date Locality and sex and remarks

ft (cm)

Labrador

1 1925 Sept. Jack Lane Bay, 55°4Q'N, 60030'W

W. Koelz. Backus ( 1957).

Newfoundland area

1 1870 Bonne Bay, W coast Reeks ( 1871). or Nfld.

earlier 2 1934 May 9 SW Grand Bank, Ca. 16 Anon. ( 1935, date and length

44°3l'N, 52°25'W, (490 ) corrected in present paper), B. ca. 43 fath Blackwood. Otter trawl, Cape

Agulhas. - 0.5°C.

Bottom temp.

3 1935 Mar. 17 SW Grand Bank, 1 6 . 5 B. Blackwood. Otter trawl, Cape 44°35'N, 53°4l'W, (503) Agulhas. Temp. bottom 2,8°C, 57 fath surface - 0.2°C.

4 1946 Aug. 7 NE Nfld. Shelf, 14 .3 B. Blackwood. Investigator II, 5l015'N, 50020'W, (436 ) halibut long line. Bottom temp. 190 fath 3.5°C.

5 1946 Aug. 7 " Ca. 14 " (430 )

6 1946 Aug. 19 NE Nfld. Shelf, 14 . 5 " 51°33'N, 50°21' (442) Bottom temp. 3.40°C. Stomach 45"W 165 fath contents: Several large cod with

halibut hooks and gangings attached.

7 1948 Jan. 5-12 S Grand Bank, 5 s;! Author. Otter trawl, Fearless. 44°16'N, 52°30'W ( 150 )

8 1949 July 9 E Grand Bank, 18 B. Blackwood. Liver 316 lb. 45°36'N, 48°35'W, (550 ) Vitamin A liver oil 1 1.000 into 98 fath units per gram. 6 large cod in

stomach. Otter trawl, Blue Spray.

9 1955 Jan. 21 S St. Pierre Bank, 19 B. Blackwood. Otter trawl, Blue 45°lO'N, 55°lO'W, (580 ) Spray. 99 fath

10 1959 Nov. 22 Hermitage Bay, 1 2 . 4 r3' Author. Otter trawl, Marinus. S coast Nfld. (378 ) Bottom temp. 4.05°C.

1 1 1960 Aug. 31 NE Nfld. Shelf, 14 . 2 s;! E. J. Sandeman and author. 49°04'45"N, (434 ) Otter trawl, A. T. Cameron. 49°59'W, Bottom temp. 3.69°C. 1600 ± 350-359 fath 100 lb weighed on dynamometer.

1 digested redfish and sponge in stomach.

73

TABLE IX. Records of the Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus, from the Canadian area. -Continued

Spec. No.

12

13

1

2

3-7

8

Year Date

1962 June 10

1962 June 11

1849 or

earlier

1886 or

earlier

1889 or

1890

1944 June 18

Locality Length and sex

jt (em)

Labrador-concluded

NE Grand Bank, 46°33'N, 47°22'30"W, 179 fath

NE Grand Bank, 46°32'45"N, 47°22'30"W, 178 fath

14 . 5 '¥ (442 )

13 . 6 '¥ (415 )

Gulf of St. Lawrence

Bras D'Or (presumably Bradore, ca. 51°29'N, 57°15'W)

Mouth of Saguenay River

Little Metis, lower St. Lawrence River

Baie des Isles, Saguenay River, 48°26'N, 70047'W

74

9 . 5 (290 )

9 '¥ (270 )

Observer or reporter and remarks

A. W. May and author. Maxi­mum width oviduct 15 cm. Diam. largest eggs 0.6 cm. 80 lb of redfish Sebastes mentella in stomach, undigested, and may have been eaten in trawl. Bot­tom temp. 2.85°C. Otter trawl, A. T. Cameron.

A. W. May and author. Maxi­mum width oviduct 16 cm. Diam. largest eggs 2.5 cm. Stomach contents:

Witch flounder. . . . . . 2 Redfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Newly born common

porpoise Phocoena phocoena (L.), 79 cm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Greenland halibut . . . Skate egg case . . . . . . Common grenadier . . Thorny skate . . . . . . . Head only of very

large broadheaded

17 .0 1b 1 2

few 1

wolffish . . . . . . . . . . 1 (The porpoise had a bite on the back of the head indenting the skin but was otherwise in excel­lent condition. ) Bottom temp. 2.88°C. Otter trawl, A. T. Cameron.

Storer ( 1857). Jaw obtained by Storer.

Whiteaves ( 1886). 600 lb.

Dawson (1891). 5 or 6 speci­mens, some of them 10 feet in length, captured in deep water by halibut longline fishermen. 2 and the jaws of a third examined by Dawson, 1 of 9.5 feet ex­amined in detail and the other and the jaws of the third mounted for the Redpath Mu­seum at McGill Univ.

Drainville and Brassard ( 1960).

TABLE IX. Records of the Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus, from the Canadian area. -Concluded

Spec. No.

9

1

2

3

4

5

Year Date

1955 Sept. 19

Locality Length and sex

ft (cm)

Gulf of St. Lawrence-concluded

Saint-Fulgence, Saguenay River, 48°26'N, 70oS2'W

10 . 5

(320)

Observer or reporter and remarks

"

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (apart from Gulf of St. Lawrence)

1863 Feb.

1872 or

earlier

1915

1915 1st week June

1962 Nov. 12

Off Halifax Harbour 1 1 . 3 Jones ( 1882)� (343 )

Eastport, Maine

Passamaquoddy Bay N channel off Campobello Island, Bay of Fundy

Off La Have Bank, 42°39'23"N, 64°15'08"W, 250-335 fath

15 . 9 (;? (485 )

Kendall ( 1908).

Huntsman ( 1922). Herring weir.

" Longline.

E. J. Sandeman and author. Hundreds of small eggs in ovaries. Largest eggs 1 cm diam. Otter trawl A. T. Cameron. Bot­tom temp. 4.50°C. Stomach contents: Ant. half of body ( 15 lb) partly digested, of 4. 1-foot Lamna nasus; jaws of 7.5-foot Prionace glauca; 16-18 fresh red­fish, probably taken while in trawl ; 1 45-cm fish, probably common hake.

Where the author is mentioned as the observer either the whole shark or the teeth and tail were usually examined and in all cases the teeth. Captain Baxter Blackwood who is listed as the observer for 5 records was Dr. Harold Thompson's sea technician on the research trawler Cape Agulhas in the period 1931-35 and is very familiar with the characteristics of the Greenland shark.

7S

TABLE X. Large catches of spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias, in the Newfoundland area by the research vessels Investigator II and A. T. Cameron (lb XO.454 =kg).

Catch spiny dog-

Position fish per Bottom i-hour

Year Date Lat. N Long. W Depth temp. drag Remarks

fath °C lb

SW slope Grand Bank

1946 May 3 1 43040' 51 057' 50-60 4 . 2 1 , 000 Investigator II 1946 June 1 43027' 51031' 70-80 5 .6 1 , 000 "

St. Pierre Bank

1953 June 2 46018'15" 57017' 100 6 . 6 3 , 600 Investigator II 1954 June 4 45028' 56029' 102 4 . 8 7 , 400 " 1954 June 5 46020'45" 56050'30" 25-26 2 .0 2 , 300 " 1954 June 6 46012' 57014'30" 98-100 1 . 3 3 , 200 " 1956 June 7 46040' 57027' 80 3 .9 6 , 000 " 1958 May 23 46028' 57026' 110 5 . 8 10 , 000 " 1960 June 8 46035' 57027' 108-110 5 . 9 8 , 000 " 1960 June 8 46035'30" 57027' 105-109 5 . 9 2 1 , 600 A. T. Cameron. Paired

haul with Investigator II. Approx. same position and depth and same time. 254 baskets (32 fish per basket, average 3 bas-kets).

76

TABLE XI. Some records of the spiny dogfish, Squalus aeanthias, from the offshore eastern Newfoundland area. (Records arranged approximately in order from north to south. Records from SW Grand Bank and from St. Pierre Bank are not included.)

No. of Bottom spiny Length

Year Date Locality Position Depth temp. dogfish (weight) Observer and remarks

lath °C em (lb)

1962 Aug. 19 Hamilton Inlet Bank 54°46'N, 139-140 3 . 19 1 87 9 imm. A. W. May and author. Otter trawl, 54°28'W A. T. Cameron.

1946 Aug. 8 NE Nfld. Shelf 51°35'N, L86 3 .00 1 (3) B. Blackwood. Halibut longline, 52°21'W Investigator II

1946 Aug. 9 " 51°09'N, 172 2 .45 3 (total 8 ) " 52°00'W

1946 Aug. 22 " 49°18'N, 126 1 . 15 1 (4) " "4

-r 52°03'W

1961 Mar. 23 Flemish Cap 46°34'N, 150-160 4 .06 1 80 9 imm. Author. Otter trawl, A. T. Cameron. 44°51'W (4.0)

1949 Aug. 3 1 " 46°35'30"N, 120 3 .8 1 A. G. Kelland. Otter trawl, Investi-44°52'W gator II.

1958 Nov. 1 1 " 47023'N, 151-152 4 .44 1 72 S. J. Olsen. Otter trawl. A. T. Camer-45050'W on.

1961 Sept. 3 NE Grand Bank 46°45'N, 168-175 2 .5 1 75 cl' imm. A. W. May and author. Otter trawl, 47021'W (3 . 8) A. T. Cameron.

1959 July 16 E slope Grand Bank 44°25'N, 198-202 3 .03 1 T. K. Pitt. Otter trawl, A. T. 48°48'W Cameron.

1960 July 10 SE Shoal Grand Bank 44011'30''N, 25-27 V. M. Hodder. Otter trawl, A. T. 49°42'W Cameron.