113. PLEURONECTHXE ACHIRUS. 841 



129. HI. sessilicauda Goode. 



Ashy brown, with darker brown spots; blind side white; pectoral 

 blackish, with traces of darker transverse bauds. Body thin, its thick- 

 ness not greater than the diameter of the eye ; depth 7 times the diame- 

 ter of the eye; head everywhere closely thatched with scales even to 

 the edges of the lips. Vertical fins mostly scaly. Lateral line on left 

 side arched, its direction peculiar, the curve having two angles; lateral 

 line on blind side nearly straight. Dorsal beginning on the snout, 

 highest posteriorly, its longest rays half the head ; anal beginning close 

 to the vent. Caudal rounded. Pectoral three-fourths length of head. 

 Ventrals on the median line, equal. Head 5; depth 2|. D. 99 to 103; 

 A. 79 to 84; scales 23-92-25, 20 in the anterior curve. L. inches. 

 Gulf Stream, off Newport, Ehode Island. (Goode.) 



(Goode, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1880, 33rf.) 



464. AC13IRUS Lacepede. 

 Soles. 



(Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Poiss. iv, 659, 1802: type Pleuronectes achirus L. = Achirus 

 fasciatiis Lac. =Pleuroncctes lineatus L.) 



Eyes and color on the right side. Body oblong, bluntly rounded 

 anteriorly. Head small ; eyes small, close together, the upper eye in 

 advance of the lower; mouth small, somewhat turned toward the colored 

 side; nasal flaps present, the nostril of the blind side fringed; lip of the 

 colored side fringed; teeth very small, on blind side only; gill-openings 

 narrow; the branchiostegal region scaled. Head closely scaled every- 

 where, the scales on the colored side similar to those on the body, those 

 of the nape and chin much enlarged; scales on the blind side anteriorly, 

 have their pectinations more or less produced, forming cirri ; scales of 

 both sides extremely rough, extending on the fins. Lateral line straight, 

 simple; edge of preopercle covered by the scales. Dorsal beginning 

 on the snout, low in front and thickly scaled, its rays divided; anal fin 

 similar, without spine; caudal fin free, convex; caudal peduncle very 

 short and deep; pectoral fin of left side wanting, that of right side 

 small or obsolete; ventral rays 3 or 4, the ventral fin of the colored side 

 long, connected with the anal by a membrane. (V J ^j without hands; 

 i. e., without pectoral fins.) 



a. Pectoral fins both obsolete. (Achirus.) 



1299. A. lineattis (L.) Cuv. 



Olive brown, usually with about 6 narrow vertical black cross-lines 

 usually not broader than pupil and with numerous black spots and 



