510 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — So far as is known this flatfish is confined to 

 the close vicinity of the coast, occurring chiefly in the mouths of estuaries or rivers 

 and in sheltered bays or harbors. In such locations it is to be found locally all along 

 the shores of the Gulf from the Bay of Fundy to the northern shores of Massachu- 

 setts Bay. The Gulf of Maine localities whence it has been definitely reported in 

 numbers or recorded in print are the shores of the Bay of Fundy generally, Bucksport 

 at the mouth of the Penobscot River, Belfast, Penobscot Bay, Casco Bay, Portland, 

 Salem Harbor, and Boston Harbor. Apparently the latter is the southern limit to 

 its regular occurrence for it is unknown in Cape Cod Bay or along Cape Cod, so far 

 as we can learn, or in the Woods Hole region, though a stray now in the collection of the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology was caught at Providence, R. I. This flatfish is 

 often confounded with the winter flounder, and it has so often been found in various 

 markets among the latter that it is no doubt far commoner all along the coast of 

 northern New England than is generally appreciated. 



The smooth flounder is very abundant in summer in Casco Bay and in estuaries 

 of the Bay of Fundy such as the mouths of the St. Croix and Annapolis Rivers, 

 which no doubt applies equally to the intervening coast line, but it is said that in 

 Massachusetts Bay it comes into harbors only in autumn and winter; 84 nor would 

 such a local difference be surprising in the case of a cold-water fish, which might 

 well be driven out off the flats into slightly deeper water by summer heat in the 

 southern and western parts of the Gulf but not in the northern and eastern. 



Huntsman (notes) describes the local distribution of this flounder in the Annap- 

 olis River mouth and basin as depending more on the type of bottom than on 

 the precise temperature, for although the water of the former was as warm as 57° 

 he found the smooth flounder much more plentiful on its soft mud bottom than 

 the winter flounder, but the latter alone on the harder bottom of the basin 

 although the temperature (48.5° to 51°) was lower there. This preference for soft 

 bottom was so strong that while a seine haul on soft mud yielded 23 smooth to 4 

 winter flounders another only 100 yards or so distant but on harder bottom brought 

 in only 3 of the former to 189 of the latter. In localities where the bottom is 

 uniformly muddy, however, the two species are often found side by side. So far 

 as known the smooth flounder is confined to shallow water, probably with 15 

 fathoms as about its lower limit in the Gulf of Maine and 3 to 5 fathoms the zone 

 of greatest abundance for it. Tide mark is its upper barrier. 



Food. — Little is known of the life of this species, but its small mouth suggests 

 a diet similar to that of the winter flounder, and Dr. W. C. Kendall found that 

 young fry 3 to 4 inches long from Casco Bay had been feeding chiefly on small 

 crabs, shrimp, unidentified crustaceans, and polychsete worms. 



Breeding habits. — Winter is the breeding season, females nearly ripe having 

 been taken in Salem Harbor in December and spent fish at Bucksport the first 

 week in March, which corroborates fishermen's reports of more than half a century 

 ago that it comes into Salem Harbor to breed at about Christmas time. It is not 

 known whether the eggs sink or are buoyant, nor have its larvae been seen. 



Commercial importance. — This is an excellent table fish for its size and as 

 sweet-meated and thick-bodied as the winter flounder. 



8 * Our experiences corroborate this to the extent that we have never seen it there in summer 



