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Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

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SHARK, SEVEN-GILLED

The seven-gilled shark (Notorynchus cepedianus), or tuatini of the Maoris, differs from all other New Zealand sharks in its having seven gill slits instead of the usual five. The dorsal fin is small and rounded and situated well back towards the tail, which has the upper fluke much the larger. In colour it is sandy-grey above and white below. The teeth are distinctive and differ in each jaw; the upper ones are more or less pointed, but the lower ones have eight or nine cusps and resemble short sections of a hacksaw blade. It grows to over 9 ft, but is rather uncommon in New Zealand. In Australia it is regarded as a dangerous species.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

Co-creator

Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.