468 Mr. Yarrell's Remarks on English Fishes. 



return home has confirmed that opinion. No description in our various 

 ichthyological works appearing to agree with this species, I venture to 

 consider it as new to our coast, and shall therefore describe it. In shape 

 it is wider in proportion to its whole length than the common Sole (Solea 

 vulgaris) and it is also somewhat thicker. The specimen measures from 

 the point of the nose to the end of the tail 8 inches, across the widest 

 part of the body, not including the fins, 3 inches, including both fins, 4 

 inches. In an example of the common Sole obtained for comparison, 

 the whole length of which was 8 inches and f , the greatest breadth with- 

 out the fins was only 2 J inches, with the fins included, 3J. The number 

 of rays in the different fins of the two species were 



D. P. V. A. C. 



Common Sole. ..84 7 5 67 17 vertebrae 47 

 New species. ... 81 8 5 69 17 „ 43 



In its general aspect this new Sole, compared with our common species, 

 is much more round and fleshy, the head obtuse, shorter and wider, the 

 mouth arched, the operculum formed externally of a single piece, circu- 

 lar in shape and less deep, tip of the pectoral fin black, lateral line straight 

 but not very strongly marked, tail narrower than in the common sort though 

 composed of the same number of rays, the prevailing colours a mixture of 

 orange and light brown, freckled over with small circular spots of very 

 dark brovra, giving a mottled appearance to the whole upper surface. 

 The scales also differ both in character and general arrangement. On 

 the under side the appearance is still more characteristic of its distinc- 

 tion. The surface of the head is almost smooth, without any of the 

 papillary eminences so remarkable in the common sort, and the nostril 

 is pierced in a prominent tubular projection which is wanting in the 

 other ; the under surface white, the appearance of the scales more strongly 

 marked than upon the upper. This species is occasionally taken with the 

 common Sole by trawling over a clear bottom of soft sand, about 16 miles 

 from Brighton. It is but partially known there by the name of Lemon 

 Sole, and the same name is by the fishermen also applied to a species of 

 Pleuronectes, which however has no resemblance to this new fish beyond 

 that of its prevailing yellow colour. 



