PLEUBONECTIDE. 



fully by the natives of the Orkneys, who ply their lines in the 

 slack water and various eddies produced by the different 

 islands, out of the race of the tides ; these quiet places being 

 more particularly the haunts of the Holibut and Flatfish 

 generally. A large quantity of oil is obtained from them. 



The Holibut is not found in the Baltic, but it is taken on 

 the west coast of Norway, and, according to Lacepede, at 

 Iceland. It appears by the Appendix of Captain James C. 

 Ross, that several were taken off the west coast of Greenland 

 in July 1829, and Dr. Storer mentions that large quantities 

 are brought to Boston market. 



In our Northern seas, Holibuts weighing near five hundred 

 pounds are said to have been obtained ; and examples of large 

 size have occasionally occurred nearer home. In April 1828, 

 a Holibut seven feet six inches in length, three feet six inches 

 in breadth, and weighing three hundred and twenty pounds, 

 was taken off the Isle of Man, and sent to Edinburgh market. 

 It was said to have been the largest specimen ever exhibited 

 there. 



Mr. William Thompson mentions that the Holibut is com- 

 mon around the coast of Ireland ; and Mr. Couch says it is 

 not uncommon in Cornwall. In London this fish is occa- 

 sionally seen in the months of March and April : here, from 

 its large size, it is sold in slices at a low price by the pound 

 weight. The flesh, though white and firm, is dry, the mus- 

 cular fibre coarse, with but little flavour : the head and fins 

 are said to be the best parts. Specimens only two feet long 

 are occasionally seen in summer, but in general the examples 

 are much larger. 



The Holibut feeds close to the ground, on the smaller 

 species of Flatfish and various Crustacea. It spawns in 

 spring ; the roe is of a pale red colour, and the ova in the 

 female very numerous. A specimen five feet two inches long, 



