70 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



iu (lifferent geuera from those in wMch tliey were placed by tbeir original 

 describers, and, misled apparently by Girard's insufficient descriptions, 

 characterizes two additional species from specimens which really be- 

 longed to forms described by that author. Finally, Prof. T. Gill reviews 

 the labors of his predecessors, reclassifies the entu'e group, arranging 

 them on a more definite system, and mentions in all seventeen species, 

 including tlie Pleiironectes quadrituherculaiiis and Fleuronectes cicatricosus 

 of Pallas, the Pleiironectes glacialis of Kichardson {= franklinii Giiuther), 

 and two supposed new species, both of which, however, are apparently 

 synonymous with two of Girard's species ; Faroj)hrys kubbardi with Faro- 

 plirys vetulus Gir., and Metoponops cooperi with the Fsetticlitliys sordidiis 

 of the same author. It will thus be perceived that considerable confu- 

 sion existed among our flat-fishes ; and iu the endeavor to identify the 

 various species described \sy these authors among the examples in the 

 Mus. Cal. Acad. Sci., and to pick them out among the fresh fishes, as 

 they lay, exposed for sale, in the markets of San Francisco, I soon found 

 that the descriptions of external characters already published needed 

 revision and amplification, and that the task of identification was ren- 

 dered difficult by the great variation in the number of the dorsal and 

 anal fin-rays, in the width of the intei^ocular space, and in the length of 

 the pectorals, in fishes which evidently belonged to the same species. 



A new and abundant species, with constant characters by which it 

 could readily be distinguished from the one Avith which it had probably 

 been hitherto confounded, was also discovered. It was at that time my 

 intention only to take a few additional notes upon the known species, 

 and publish them together with a description of the new form ; but, at 

 the suggestion of Prof. D. S. Jordan, of Indiana TJniversity, Bloomington, 

 Ind., who is at this time preparing an ichthyology of the United States, 

 which will include all the Pacific Coast species, I imdertook the task of 

 redescribing and more thoroughly characterizing all the known forms 

 belonging to the family that occur in the markets of San Francisco. 



Cy repeated visits to the markets, extendmg over a period of six 

 months, I have verified the occurrence here of aU the species hitherto 

 described^rom this coast, with the exception of the more northern 

 FleiironecTcsfranliinn, and the possible exception of the Pallasian spe- 

 cies quadrituberculatus and cicatricosus. Two new species of rare occur- 

 rence, and belonging to a group not hilherto known to be found in oiu' 

 ■Raters, have also been added to the fauna ; but as five nominal species 

 are eliminated, the total number of valid forms occurring here is only 

 thirteen. 



My method of procedure has been to write a full description from 

 the specimens in the possession of the California Academy of Sciences, 

 and'^then to incorporate with it the results of notes taken from fresh 

 individuals, altering and adding so as to include the range of variation. 

 The descriptions are not, therefore, from types, but from an examination 

 of several specimens, and a comparison of these with several others. To 

 the descriptions measnrements of several specimens (except in the case of 



