FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



owing to its large size, and for no other reason 

 that can be even suggested, is almost universally 

 called the fluke, a name that cannot be legiti- 

 mately applied to any flatfish except the Craig 

 fluke or pole flounder, which lives in deep water, 

 never approaching the shores, nor reaching a length 

 of over eighteen inches, while the summer floun- 

 der grows to three feet, and fifteen pounds. 



As the two species (summer and winter) are 

 often confused by the rod-and-line fishermen, it 

 would be well for the rodster to count the rays 

 of the fin on the back of the flounder he catches : 

 if he finds on the back fin eighty-five to ninety 

 rays, he has captured a summer flounder ; if only 

 sixty-five to seventy, he has before him a winter 

 flounder. 



The other species met with in our estuaries 

 are the sand-dab, the four-spotted flounder, the 

 rusty-dab, the eel-back flounder, window-pane, 

 and the American sole or hog choker, all of 

 which take a natural bait greedily, and are 

 excellent table fish. 



Distributed in the northern seas, there are about 

 twenty-five genera and nearly one hundred and 

 forty species of the codfish family. Of these, only 

 nine forms visit the New England and Canadian 

 coasts, and but few of them serve the angler's 

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