290 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



they are shed is comparatively warm (upward of 

 45°) in these seas also, during the spawning season. 



At the other extreme, our captures of eggs and 

 of newly hatched larvae near the surface in July 

 prove that the latter may be hatched in the Gulf 

 in water at least as warm as 50° to 55°. But the 

 upper limit to normal development cannot be 

 stated from the evidence yet in hand, for with a 

 temperature gradient as steep as it is over most 

 of the Gulf of Maine in summer a difference of only 

 a few fathoms in the depth at which the eggs or 

 young larvae are suspended may mean a difference 

 of several degrees of temperature. 



One result of the protracted spawning season, 

 combined with the long period occupied by larval 

 development, is that witch larvae of various sizes 

 are to be taken in tow nets throughout the summer 

 and early autumn, as appears from the following 

 table of our catches on the Grampus. 



All of these catches, like those for other larval 

 flatfishes, and for larval gadoids, have been con- 

 centrated in the southwestern part of the Gulf, 

 which must be an important nursery for the witch 

 also. And we may note in passing that the 

 presence of young fry at all stages from immedi- 

 ately after their metamorphosis (that is, 4 to 6 

 months old) in the Bay of Fundy, where few or 

 none are hatched, points to an immigration of the 

 late larvae, or of the youngest fry, into the Bay, 

 either just before they take to the bottom or soon 

 after they have done so. 



Importance. — The witch was of no commercial 

 importance in our Gulf a quarter of a century ago; 

 few fishermen distinguished it from other flounders 

 then, and no record was kept of the catch. It is 

 an excellent table fish; and the bases of its fins are 

 provided with astonishingly large amounts of ge- 

 latinous fat for so thin a flounder, of the sort for 

 which the European turbot is famed. 



It is now in such demand that it brings about as 

 high a price as either the yellowtail or the American 



dab. In 1947, for instance, the average price at 

 Massachusetts ports was about 7 cents for gray 

 sole, about 8 cents for yellowtad, about 7 cents for 

 dab, about 9 to 12 cents, according to size, for 

 flatfish of the winter-flounder type (blackbacks 

 and lemon sole), about 17 cents for summer 

 flounders (fluke), and about 25 cents for halibut. 

 The Gulf yielded between 2 million and 2% 

 million pounds of gray sole both in 1946 and in 

 1947, corresponding to something like 1 to 1% 

 million individual fish. 



The otter trawl is the only gear now in use in our 

 waters that is adapted to the capture of witch 

 flounders on a commercial scale. They live too 

 deep, and their mouths are too small for them to 

 be of any concern to small-boat fishermen. 



Sand flounder Lophopsetta, maculata 

 (Mitchill) 1814 



Windowpane; Spotted flounder; New York 

 plaice; Sand dab; Spotted turbot 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2660. 



Description. — This is the closest North American 

 relative of the European turbot and brill. It is 

 left-handed (eyes and viscera at the left-hand side) 

 and large-mouthed, like the summer and four- 

 spotted flounders, but it is readily separable from 

 both of these by the outlines of its ventral fins. In 

 all other Gulf of Maine flatfish (except for the 

 hogchoker, p. 296) these are narrow at the base and 

 widen toward the tip, but the ventrals of the sand 

 flounder are as wide at the base as they are at the 

 tip, each simulating a detached segment of the 

 anal fin. Furthermore the two ventral fins are 

 not alike either in location or in size, the left-hand 

 (upper) fin, which is the longer of the pair, being 

 practically a continuation of the anal fin so far as 

 its appearance goes, whereas the right-hand 

 (lower) ventral fin is situated a short distance up 

 the right-hand side of the throat. The general 

 appearance of the dorsal fin is no less diagnostic, 

 for its first 10 or 12 rays are not only free from the 

 fin membrane along the outer half of their lengths, 

 but they are branched toward their tips, so that 

 they form a conspicuous fringe which is without 

 parallel among Gulf of Maine flatfishes. Further- 

 more, the sand flounder is more nearly round in 

 outline than any of our other local flatfishes (it is 

 only about one and one-half times as long as it is 



