246 MALACOP. SUB.-BRACH. FLAT-FISH. 



and Dr. Fleming respectively figure and describe it 

 under the name of Variegatus ; and Mr. Jenyns, 

 under the name of S. lingida^ confounds it with the 

 following species, an error of which he himself had 

 some suspicion at the time, but which was almost 

 unavoidable before the discovery of M. linguatulus 

 in Britain threw a new light on the subject. M. 

 variegatus is a small fish scarcely attaining half a 

 foot in length, the colour of the surface reddish 

 brown, variegated on ihe body and fins with dark 

 brown ; the scales are large, ciliated, and rough to 

 the touch, and there is a distinct space between 

 the termination of the dorsal and anal fins and the 

 root of the tail. This is a rare species in Britain. 

 We learn from various sources that it has been 

 taken at Rothsay, near Plymouth — where it is said 

 to be common in the spring,* — on the coasts of 

 Cornwall, and in Belfast Bay. 



(Sp. 185.) M. linguatulus. The Solenette, or 

 Little Sole. The exertions of Dr. Parnell, whose 

 invest] o-ations have not been confined to the Firth 



o 



of Forth, have been the means of adding this small 

 and distinct species to our Fauna. He obtained it 

 at Brixham, on the Devonshire coast, and published 

 a notice of it in 1837, in the Transaction^ of the 

 Royal Society of Edinburgh, under the name of 

 M. 7ninutus, Mr. Yarrell, we believe, being the first 

 who detected its identity with the 3f. linguatulus 

 of Rondelet and Cuvier. These Soles are by no 

 means scarce in the locality mentioned, being often 

 * Pennant's Brit. Zool. (ed. 1812), vol. iii. p. 314. 



