124 



extending back a little behind the anterior end of the ventral fin. The eyes are both 

 on the right side as in the adult. The skin and body are more transparent than in 

 fuU-grown soles, but the pigment of the upper side exhibits perfectly the arrangement 

 of spots which characterises Solea vulgaris. 



On. May 17, I examined at low water the shores of Sutton Pool and the mouth of 

 the Catte water in order to find out whether young flounders or soles were to be seen 

 in the tidal pools there, as in the harbour at Mevagissey. I could not find a single 

 specimen, but the next day some boys brought me two specimens of young flounders 

 {PI. flesus) taken at low tide on the shore of Sutton Pool. 



These young soles, 12 mm. long, from Mevagissey could not have been more than 

 two months and a half to three months old, if the eggs from which they grew were 

 shed at the middle of February or the beginning of March, that is at the commence- 

 ment of the spawning period of the sole ; and it is very probable that they were only two 

 months old or even less. As the larvae are not hatched until a fortnight after 

 fertilisation, we may conclude that the metamorphosis occurs within about six weeks 

 after hatching. 



At the next spring tides, namely, on May 31, Mr. Dunn sent me up some more 

 young flat-fishes from Mevagissey harbour: among these was one young sole, the only 

 one he could find, it measured fin. (18 mm.) in length. After this he could find no 

 more young soles in the tidal pools : they all disappeared, having either left the shore 

 for deeper water, or having become strong enough and active enough to swim away 

 with the retreating tide and avoid being left between tide marks. During the 

 following months I perseveringly endeavoured to capture young soles in their later 

 stages. I trawled with my specially constructed trawl in Whitsand Bay frequently 

 both by night and day, and also in Cawsand Bay and other sandy j^arts of Plymouth 

 Sound, but I never got any young soles. In Whitsand Bay at night I got a large 

 number of young plaice, pouting [Gadus luscus), and other young fishes, but not a 

 single sole. 



Mr. Dunn having told me that he believed there were large numbers of young soles 

 in the estuaries of the Fal and Helford rivers, I asked my friend Mr. Eupert Vallentin, 

 of Falmouth, to make investigations and see if he could find any specimens. Mr. 

 Vallentin accordingly made a most careful and complete examination of the two 

 estuaries with the following results. He went to Malpas, a place about two miles 

 below Truro, and there found one man, the innkeeper, who possessed a seine which 

 he used for taking flat-fish. On the 27th July Mr. Vallentin had a series of hauls 

 made with this seine, the meshes of which were so small as only to admit the tip of 

 the little finger. After several hauls the total catch of flat fishes was: 

 Four Flounders from 8 to 12 inches long, 

 Four Soles, 5^ inches, 5| inches, 6 inches, 7f inches in length. 



The two smallest of the soles were sent to me, and I was able therefore to make 

 certain that they were really Solea vulgaris. 



