New sharks from the South China Sea *

Three new species and one new genus of sharks are described from the South China Sea. Cephaloscyllium fasciatum sp. n. (Scyliorhinidae) has a distinctive colour pattern characterized by the presence of dark‐edged blotches and saddles; and by the lobe‐like anterior nasal flap. The colour pattern and certain developmental changes in C. umbratile Jordan and Fowler are discussed. Dichichthys melanobranchus gen. n. and sp. (Scyliorhinidae) combines the distinguishing characters of three distinct genera: Galeus Rafinesque, Parmaturus Garman, and Apristurus Carman. This suggests that Dichichthys may be an ancestral form from which these three genera have evolved. Etmoptems decacuspidatus sp. n. (Squalidae) is distinguished primarily on the basts of the decacuspid teeth to the upper jaw; this unusually high number of cusps is shown not to have been acquired as a result of old age. The vertebral characters of all species are studied radiographically.