203 



VARIEGATED SOLE. 



THICKBACK. BASTARD SOLE. RED-BACKED SOLK. 



Plenronectes variegatus, DONOVAN; pi. 117. 



" Mangillii, Risso. 



Solea variegata, FLEMING; Br. Animals, p. 197. 



MonocMrus variegatus, YAKRELL; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 353. 



Solea variegata, GUNTIIER; Cat. Br. Museum, vol. iv, 



p. 469. 



THIS species is not mentioned among Scandinavian fishes by 

 Nilsson nor Eckstrom; but its range extends to the north of 

 Scotland, and it is known along the coasts of Ireland. Risso 

 also met with it in the Mediterranean, where, however, he 

 says it is rare. And yet this apparent scarcity may be rather 

 from the mode of fishing usually practised than from the absence 

 of the fish; as it was formerly said to be also little known in 

 England, whereas in the markets of Plymouth and Penzance it 

 appears equally plentiful with the Common Sole. I have not 

 known an instance of its having taken a hook, even when the 

 other Sole is sometimes caught; from which the conclusion may 

 be drawn that not only is its food different, but that it also 

 keeps in deeper water, where the smaller hooks are not employed. 

 The smaller specimens are sometimes found in the stomachs of 

 fishes from a depth of forty or fifty fathoms, It is ranked 

 among the superior fishes for the table. 



The Thickback seldom exceeds the length of eight or nine 

 inches, and in its general proportions it much resembles the 

 Common Sole, but with a little wider oval, and in its substance 

 it is thicker. The head is rounded in front, where it advances 

 beyond the mouth and lower jaw: the mouth itself small and 

 twisted. The lower eye rather smaller than the upper, and 



