3 1 4 AMERICAN FISHES. 



rest upon the bottom, nor is it known how long is the period of incubation, 

 nor what is the rate of growth of the fish. As has already been mentioned, 

 young fish are very unusual ; the smallest ever seen by Capt. Ashby in 

 Southern New England was taken on Nantucket Shoals, and weighed two 

 and a half pounds after it had been eviscerated. 



" Left-handed " Halibut are sometimes taken. Perhaps one out of five 

 thousand is thus abnormal in its form, having the eyes uDon the left rather 

 than upon the right hand side of the head. 



Halibut with dark spots or patches on the under side of the same dark 

 color as the back are occasionally taken. These are called by the fisher- 

 men " Circus Halibut." They are generally of medium size, and thick, 

 well-fed fish. 



The Plaice, Summer Flounder, or Turbot Flounder, Paralichthys den- 

 uitiis, is, next to the Halibut, the most important flat fish on the eastern 

 coast. It is a member of a genus not existing in Europe, though repre- 

 sented on our own Pacific coast, in China and Japan, and in the Indian 

 Ocean. Its affinities are with the Halibut, which it much resembles in form, 

 and to which it is more similar in flavor than to the Turbot and Brill, sO' 

 well known in transatlantic fish markets. Our common species was first 

 brought to notice in 1766, when Linnaeus received specimens from South 

 Carolina, sent him by Dr. Garden. It seems at that time to have been of 

 recognized commercial importance, since it was one of the few received by 

 Linnaeus from (harden which had a common name. In South Carolina at 

 this time it was called Plaice, and this is a name which is now accei)ted 



