198 FISHES. MALACOPTERYGIOUS. Platessa. 



fins not reaching so closely to the tail. D. 68, A. 53, C. 16. According to Mr 

 Hanmer, its flesh is inferior to the sole ; and he adds, it is common in the 

 spring, upon the coast, near Plymouth. 



G-en. XLVIII. PLATESSA. Fluke.— A row of obtuse 

 cutting teeth in each jaw. A spine at the beginning of the 

 anal fin. Tail rounded. 



103. P. vulgaris. Plaise. — Body smooth. A row of six 

 tubercles on the head. 



Passer aureus, Men: Pin. 187- Sibb. Scot. 24 — Passer Bellonii, Will Ich. 

 96 — Pleuronectes Platessa, Linn. Syst. i. 456. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 

 228. — S, Fluke, Dutch Plaise— Common. 



Length about a foot. Above olivaceous, with reddish spots; beneathi 

 white. Scales small, impressed, and adherent. Mouth small ; lower jaw long- 

 est. D. 72, P. 11, V. 6, A. 54. — Spawns in February. 



104. P. Flesus. Flounder. — Body smooth. A band of 



small sharp spines on the side line, and at the junction of the 



dorsal and anal fins with the body. 



Passer niger, Merr. Pin. 187 — Lsevis, Sibb. Scot. 24. — P. fluviatilis, 



Will. Ich. 98 Pleuronectes linea laterali aspera, spinulis ad radices 



pinnarum in latere oculato. Artedi, Ich. Desc. 59 — PI. Flesus, Linn. 

 Syst. i. 457. Perm. Brit. Zool. iii. 229.— S, Mayock-fleuk — Common. 



Length about a foot. Colour olivaceous, occasionally marbled with brown, 

 sometimes whitish, yellowish, or rosy. Scales very small, adherent. Lateral 

 line elevated and denticulated on the head ; and bent over the gills. Mouth 

 small. D. 60, P. 12, V. 6, A. 42, C. 18 — This species is more frequently to be 

 met with at the mouths of rivers than any of the genus. A sinistral variety 

 sometimes occurs. 



105. P. Limanda. Dab. — Scales, with ciliated margins. 



Passer asper, Will. Ich. 97 — Pleuronectes squamis asperis; spina ad 

 anum, Art. Ich. Desc. 58. — Pleur. Limanda, Linn. Syst. i. 457- Penn. 

 Brit. Zool. iii. 230 S, Saltie — Common. 



Length seldom reaching to a foot. Colour above brownish, frequently with 

 darker clouds. Scales large. Mouth wide. D. 73, f P. 11, V. 6, A. 63, C. 15. 

 In season for the table in spring. Spawns in May. 



106. P. microcephalics. — Body oblong. Head small. Mouth 

 diminutive. Lateral hue a little incurvated. 



Smear Dab, Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 230 — Pleuronectes microcephalus, Don- 

 Brit. Fishes, t. lxii — Sand-fleuk, Neill, Wern. Mem. i. 537. 

 Length about a foot. Colour above, dusky -brown ; beneath, white. Lips 

 protruded. Scales small, smooth. Lateral line a little incurvated over the 

 pectoral fin. D. 90, P. 7, V. 6, A. 73, C. 17- The Smear-Dab of Pennant ap- 

 pears, from the description, to be similar to the P. microcephalus of Donovan ; 

 but the figure of the former author, differs, in all its characters, from the one 

 given by the latter. 1 1 may be stated, that, in the last edition of the British 

 Zoology, the original figure of the Smear-Dab is suppressed ; while a new re- 

 presentation of a fish under the same title is given, which bears little resem- 

 blance to the former, while it makes a near approximation, in the shape of 

 the head, to Donovan's figure. In shape, the original figure of the Smear- 

 Dab in the Brit. Zool. t. Ixi. resembles the Pleuronectes punctatus. 



