Jordan and Evermann. — Fishes of North America. 2643 



rougli ctenoid, smooth iu the very young. A single species, abundant on 

 the Pacific coast of North America. It is close to Inojjsetta, from which it 

 is separated by the arch of the lateral line, and still closer to Limanda, 

 from which the accessory brunch of the lateral line alone separates it. 

 (AsTCii, scale; ipf/rra, flounder.) 



3012. LEPIDOPSETTA BILIXEATA (Ayres). 



Head 3f ; depth 2^. D. 80 ; A. 60 ; teeth ?^^, ; scales 85. Vertebra? 11 + 

 29=: 40. Body broadly ovate, thickish; mouth moderate, turned toward 

 the left side; teeth stout, conical, little compressed, bluntish, in 1 series, 

 rather irregularly placed. Lower pharyngeals broad, with 2 rows of blunt 

 teeth. Gill rakers few, very short, thick and weak, without teeth. Snout 

 projecting; eyes large, separated by a prominent ridge, which, like the 

 cheeks and upper portion of opercle, is covered with rough stellate scales ; 

 lower eye advanced ; opercle, subopercle, and interoperclo of left side 

 scaly; preopercle naked. Scales rather small, mostly ctenoid, not closely 

 imbricated, those on the blind side smooth ; scales on cheeks and other 

 parts of head very rough; scales of body smoother and less closely imbri- 

 cated anteriorly, the degree of roughness variable, northern specimens 

 (var. umhrosus) being roughest. Lateral line moderately arched anteriorly, 

 witli an accessory dorsal Inanch, which is less than i length of head; 

 height of arch less than i its length. Dorsal beginning over eye, its ante- 

 rior rays low; caudal convex ; anal preceded by a spine; a concealed spine 

 behind ventrals ; rays of dorsal and anal all simple ; dorsal and anal some- 

 what scaly; caudal^ length of head; pectoral i head. Lower pharyngeals 

 Itroad, each with 2 rows of blunt teeth. Yellowish brown, with numerous 

 round pale blotches. Pacific coast of North America, Bering Strait to 

 Monterey. This species is one of the commonest of the flounders of tlie 

 Pacific coast, its abundance apparently increasing toward the northward. 

 In Bering Sea it far outnumbers all other flounders. We have specimens 

 from Bering Island, Medni Island, Unalaska, St. Paul, St. George, and 

 Chignik Bay. It reaches a weight of 5 or 6 pounds and is an inhabitant 

 of shallow waters. Specimens from Puget Sound and northward are 

 rougher than southern specimens and constitute a slight geographical 

 variety, for which the name Ltpidopsetta hilineata umhrosa may be used. 

 This is the same as P.pcrarcuatits of Cope. {biUneatns, two-lined.) 



PlatessaUlineata, Ayres, Proc. Ac. Kat. Sci. Cal. 1855, 40, San Francisco. 



Plaiichthys umhrosus, Gibard, Proc. Ac. Kat. Sci. Phila. 1856, 136, Puget Sound. 



Pleuronectes pemrcuatiis. Cope, Proc. Ac. Xat. Sci. Phila. 1873, 30, Unalaska. 



Pleuronectes umbrosns, Gunther, Cat., iv, 454, 1862. 



Pleuronectes bilineatus, GuNTHEE, Cat., IV, 444,1862; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 833, 



1883. 

 Lepidopsetta hilineata, Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1864, 195 ; Lockington, Proc. U. S. 



Nat. Mu.s. 1879, 103 ; Lockington, Rep. Com. Fiahpries California, 1878-79, 46 ; Jordan 



& Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mua. 1880, 453 ; Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mu.s. 



1881,68; Bean, Proc. IT. S. Nat. Mus. 1881,241; Bean, Cat. Coll. Fish. IT. S. Nat. Mus. 



1883,19; Bean, Proc. F. S. Nat. Mus. 1883, 353; Jordan, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim., pi. 



50, 184, 1884 ; Jordan & Goss, Review Flounders aud Soles, 286, 1889. 



