32 2 AMERICAN FISHES. 



Flat Fish are always upon the bottom, feeding chiefly upon minute 

 shells, such as Nuciila and BiiUa, upon young crabs, or whatever they can 

 find among the stones in the mud. Their mouths are very small, and 

 since they would be unable to seize and kill other fish, they never come 

 to the surface in pursuit of prey, as do the large-mouthed Flounders. 

 They prefer sheltered bays and harbors, and appear to be equally abundant 

 on the bottoms of the sand, mud, or rock ; when at rest, they are usually 

 partially embedded in the mud or sand at the bottom. I have observed 

 that, when they come to a stop, they always settle themselves by convul- 

 sive motions of the fins and body, which has the effect of pushing them 

 down into the soft bottom. This species is perhaps a more permanent 

 resident of the localities which it inhabits than any other on our coast, unless 

 it be the sculpins. There is very little evidence of a tendency to move 

 to and from the shore with a change of season. Winter and summer, they 

 appear to be equally abundant from New York to the Bay of Chaleur, 

 where, in the tide-way of jMiramichi River, they are caught in winter 

 through holes in the ice. In Labrador they are described as exceedingly 

 abundant in summer, but nothing is known of their winter habits. Prof. 

 Eaird found them scarce in Southern New Jersey in summer, but 

 learned that they were very abundant in the bays in winter. Small quan- 

 tities are brought to Washington in winter from the mouth of the Chesa- 

 peake. 



The spawning season occurs early in spring, in February and March on 

 the Connecticut coast, and is thought to be closed by the first part of 

 April. Young fish of half an inch in length are found in July in the deep- 

 er parts of the bays and sounds, and in August and September, having 

 attained the length of one and one-half to five inches, occur in great 

 abundance in the coves and along the sandy shores of the Southern New 

 England coast, in very shallow vrater. Their growth is probably rapid, 

 though it would seem most likely that the five-inch specimens just referred 

 to were eighteen months rather than six months old. The largest that 

 have been discovered were fifteen inches long, and would weigh from one 

 to one and a half pounds. 



The fiesh of the Flat Fish is solid, white, and of excellent flavor, and 

 deserves a more general ])opularity than it has yet attained. It is, and 

 has been for the last century, largely consumed in New York in winter. 

 Schoepf, writing in 1776, mentions it as occurring in the market in spring ; 



