Common name of Mustelus antarcticus
 
Common name Spotted gummy shark
Language English
Type Vernacular
Official trade name No
Rank 3 - (Other common name)
Country United Kingdom
Locality
Ref. Kotlyar, A.N., 1984
Life stage juveniles and adults
Sex females and males
Core primary lexeme
1st modifier morphology
2nd modifier color pattern(s)
Remarks 'shark', of obscure origins but appears to have been introduced to English in the late 1560s by members of Sir John Hawkins' expedition (a ballad of 1569 recorded 'There is no proper name for [the fish] that I know, but that certain men of Captain Hawkins' doth call it a shark'), but it is not known where they got it from. A resemblance to Austrian dialect 'schirk', i.e., sturgeon has been noted (p. 471 in Ref. 11979); 'gummy', i.e., viscous, sticky, consisting of or containing gum, covered with gum (Ref. 11978). Name also cited in Ref. 5755.
 
Comments & Corrections
Back to Search
cfm script by eagbayani, 11.10.04 ,  php script by rolavides, 25/03/08 ,  last modified by sortiz, 06/27/17