318 



FISHERY BILLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Grampus). Total number of specimens studied in 

 detail for the number of gill rakers, fin rays and 

 scales, 120; many more examined in more or less 

 detail to verify conclusions based on the above; 

 sizes of specimens examined ranging 20 to 432 mm. 

 Two lots of tills species in the Xational Museum 

 evidently were supplied with inaccurate or incom- 

 plete data as to locality, as follows : 35799, Missis- 

 sippi, Lt. Wailes, 3 specimens, 193-2-iS mm. These 

 specimens were possibly sent by the collector from 

 Mississippi, but certainly not captured there. 

 6767, Jamaica, C. B. Adams, 1 specimen, 102 mm. 

 The location of "Jamaica" is doubtful, but it prob- 

 ably refers to Jamaica Bay, Long Island, N. Y. 



Geographic distrihution and habifaf. — ^The lo- 

 calities from which specimens were examined rep- 

 resent a range from Provincetown, Mass., to Fer- 

 nandina, Fla. Around the northein end of Cajie 

 Cod, in Cape Cod Bay, it has been reported from 

 North Truro (Kendall 1908) and Wellfleet 

 (Storer 1864). In a review of the literature of 

 the species, no authentic records north of Cape Cod 

 were found. The distribution, Femandina, Fla., 

 to Provincetown, Mass., and around the point to 

 Wellfleet, as based on material examined and on 

 unquestionable records in the literature, must 

 therefore stand for the present. 



Kendall (1908, and Proc. Portland Soc. Nat. 

 Hist., vol. 3, jrt. 1, pp. 70 and 133, 1914) ascribes 

 three records for Casco Bay, Maine, to the present 

 species, one by Holmes and the other two from 

 entries in the register book of the National Mu- 

 seum. The record by Holmes (in Second Ann. 

 Kept. Nat. Hist. Geol. Maine, p. 61, 1862) as 

 Pomatopsetta dentata Gill, most likely refers to 

 the species now known as Hippoglossoides plates- 

 fioides. At about the time when Holmes' report 

 was published the leading American ichthyolo- 

 gists, such as Storer, De Kay, and Gill applied 

 the specific name dentata to Hippoglossoides 

 plntessoides, and the type of Gill's genus Pom- 

 atopsetta, is that species. Moreover, Hippoglos- 

 soides platessoides is a common fish in the Gulf 

 of Maine, although it is generally taken in deeper 

 water, at 15 fathoms or beyond. Holmes lists three 

 species of flatfishes from Maine, the other two 

 being Hippoglossus americana, the halibut, and 

 PJeuronectes americanus, the winter floundei', both 



common si>ecies. It is, therefore, much more 

 likely that his Pomatopsetta dentata Gill was 

 based on material of Hippoglossoides platessoides 

 rather than on Paralichthys deiitatus. As to the 

 two records on the register of the National Mu- 

 seum, they probably also refer to some other com- 

 mon species of flatfish. During the seventies 

 when the identifications entered on the register 

 were presumably made, Paralichthys dentat'm was 

 known among the American ichthyologists under 

 the specific name of ocellaris rather than dentatus. 

 According to the data now extant, Paralichthys 

 dentatus does not occur north of Cape Cod. 



The species is very common and caught in com- 

 mercial quantities from Cape Cod to North Caro- 

 lina, and is abundant from southern Massachu- 

 setts to Chesapeake Bay. In Chesapeake Bay it 

 is the most common flatfish marketed. In the 

 summer it is found chiefly in shallow water, gen- 

 erally to about the 15 fathom line and, in the 

 winter, on the coast of the northern States, it 

 lives in deeper water, and has been recorded from 

 a depth of 100 fathoms off the coast of Virginia, 

 March 3, 1929 (Schroeder 1931). The species 

 shows a preference for hard or sand bottom, but 

 is also taken on mud or grass bottoms. 



Size. — The usual sizes of this species which enter 

 the mai'ket range from 12 to 25 inches, having a 

 weight of 1/2 to 6 pounds. Fish more than 6 

 pounds are not common. The largest specimen on 

 record weighed 30 pounds, taken off Ushers Is- 

 land, N. Y. (Nichols and Breder 1927). Goods 

 (1884) records the capture of a specimen weighing 

 26 pounds, landed at Noank, Conn. A half-pound 

 fish measures about 12 inches; 1 pound, about 15 

 inches; 2 pounds, about 18 inches; 3 pounds, about 

 20 inches; 4 pounds, about 22 inches; 8 pounds, 

 about 27 inches; 10 pounds, about 30 inches. 



Distinctive characters avd relationship. — The 

 characteristic color pattern of this species enables 

 one to identify the great majority of specimens 

 at a glaiu'e. Near the northern end of its range, 

 at Cape Cod, dark specimens in which the color 

 pattern is not well maiked, resemble somewhat 

 Hippoglosoides platessoides, but this latter species 

 may be readily distinguished by its eyes and color 

 being on the right side, its lack of a high arch 

 in the anterior part of the lateral line, it? smaller 



