WHIFF. 343 



Lantern-fish, in reference to its semi-transparency when held 

 up between the eye and the light ; but from experience I 

 can say that the flesh is excellent when fried, almost as good 

 as that of the Sole. 



Mr. Donovan found it in Wales ; it is not unfrequent in 

 Ireland. Mr. Jenyns has described it in his valuable Manual 

 of the British Vertebrate Animals, from a specimen obtained 

 by Professor Hcnslow at Wcymouth. Most of the speci- 

 mens recorded measured from eighteen to twenty-one inches 

 in length. 



Dr. Johnston says it is rare at Berwick, and Dr. Parncll 

 does not include it among his Fishes of the Forth. 



But few particulars are known of this fish. It appears but 

 seldom in the London market : I obtained one in June 1834 

 which measured seventeen inches in length, from which a 

 representation and the following description are taken. 



The length of the head from the point of the upper jaw to 

 the posterior edge of the operculum, compared to the length 

 of the body alone, without the head or caudal rays, is as one 

 to three ; the breadth of the body, dorsal and anal fins ex- 

 cluded, is to the whole length of the fish rather less than one 

 third : the dorsal fin commences half-way between the point 

 of the nose and the anterior edge of the upper orbit, and ex- 

 tends to within three-quarters of an inch of the end of the 

 fleshy portion of the tail and the base of the caudal rays ; 

 the pectoral fin on the under or white side is considerably 

 smaller in size, and contains two rays less, than that on the 

 upper side ; the ventral fins are of some extent at the base, 

 as in the preceding species of the genus Rhombus ; the anal 

 fin commences in a line under the origin of the pectoral fin, 

 extends along the whole length of the abdominal line, and 

 ends near the tail on the same plane as the dorsal fin ; the 

 fleshy portion of the tail is narrow ; the caudal rays three 

 inches long, and slightly rounded. 



