If A LIB UT, FLA T-FISH AXD FL O I 'XDER. 3 2 1 



individual was taken by the Fish Commission at the mouth of Salem Har- 

 bor, nor has it been recorded south of New York. There are two smaller 

 species upon the Southern coast — one, Paralichthys quadrocellatus, 

 broader than Paralichthys oblongus, also marked with four dorsal spots, 

 and known in the South as the Four-spotted Flounder. This species has 

 been observed as far north as Charleston and Fort Macon, while its west- 

 ern record of limit is Pensacola. Stearns records it as common from 

 Cedar Keys south to Key West, and pronounces it an excellent food-fish. 

 It cannot at present, however, be considered very important. The other 

 species, Paralichthys stigmatias, occurs in deep water (seventy-five fathoms) 

 off the coast of South Carolina, and may be distinguished by the presence 

 of three conspicuous spots upon the upper side of the body.. 



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THE FLAT FISH. 



Next in importance to the Plaice, comes the Flat Fish, Pseudopleuro- 

 nectcs americanus, or Common Flounder, sometimes called the "Winter 

 Flounder," said to be known in Massachusetts Bay as the "Mud-dab," 

 and in New York as the "Flounder." New York anglers call it the 

 "Nigger Fish." This fish, like the Plaice, belongs to a genus unknown 

 to Europe, but is closely related to the common Flounder, or Fluke, of the 

 British coast. Its range is somewhat extensive, and in a certain degree it 

 replaces the Plaice along our northern coast. It has not been observed 

 south of Chesapeake Bay, but northward its range extends to the Bay of 

 Fundy, to the eastern shores of Nova Scotia, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 and even to the coast of Labrador. 



