232 MALACOP. SUB-BRACH. FLAT FISH. 



coarse in the fibre and having little flavour, but it 

 is much used as being plentiful and cheap. Middle 

 sized specimens are considered best, and Pennant 

 says that the part which adheres to the side fins is 

 extremely fat and delicious. The skin and bones 

 yield a large quantity of oil. 



The Greenlanders fish for it with lines made of 

 slender pieces of whalebone, or the skin of the 

 Bearded Seal. Even the skin and liver are con- 

 sumed in a raw state, mixed with the berries of 

 Empetrum nigrum. 



It is the only kind of flat fish found in this country 

 having the extremity of the caudal fin crescent- 

 shaped; this, however, is not a generic character, 

 as some authors suppose, for some foreign species 

 resemble the rest of the Pleuronectidee in this re- 

 spect ; such, for example, as the H. macrolepidotus 

 of the Mediterranean. 



Gen. LXXXIII. Rhombus. Following the ar- 

 rangement and nomenclature of Cuvier, we designate 

 the present group by the above name, although 

 there seems to be no reason why the designation of 

 Pleuronectes, originally given by Linnseus to this 

 family, should not be retained for one of the princi- 

 pal genera, as has been done by Mr. Jenyns and 

 others. The distinguishing characters of Rhombus 

 are, the colour and eyes on the left side ; dorsal 

 commencing immediately above the upper lip, and 

 continued, as is also the anal, very nearly to the 

 root of the tail; jaws and pharyngeal bones with 

 fine card-like teeth. 



