Volume 39, Plate XXVII / Ichthyology (Fish)

Fox-Shark, or Thresher & Picked Dog-Fish

Alopias vulpes & Acanthias vulgaris

1. Fox-Shark, or Thresher. A fish of considerable size, frequently thirteen feet including a tail exceeding six feet shaped like a scythe blade, the Fox-Shark takes its alternate name Thresher from striking other fishes and cetacea violently with that tail, the sound heard at a distance. It has been seen to scatter a herd of dolphins with one splash, and though not plentiful in our seas it has occurred in many localities, a fine specimen being caught at Largo Bay in 1842.
2. Picked Dog-Fish. The most common of all the sharks and found in every part of the British and Irish seas, the Picked Dog-Fish measures three to four feet, slate-grey above and yellowish white below, the young spotted with white, and it defends itself with spines that it springs asunder by bowing its body. Troublesome to fishermen by destroying bait and nets, where it swarms it is salted and dried for winter food, and oil is drawn from its liver.