PLEURONECTES FLESUS. 87 



It spawns in February, March, and April, and the young are frequently 

 seen before the beginning of May. In some localities the spawning does not 

 take place till late in April, or in North Germany in May. It rarely reaches 

 a large size, and a length of nine inches and a weight of four pounds are 

 exceptional, though Pennant mentions specimens which weighed six pounds. 



The number of eggs progressively increases with the size of the fish, and 

 more than one million and a quarter have been found in one weighing a pound 

 and a half. It is often used as bait, but is generally eaten wherever it occurs, 

 and formerly much more commonly than now, in a salted and dried condition, 

 was imported from the Baltic. In Germany swine are sometimes fed on it. 



In form the Flounder has a strong family resemblance to the Plaice. The 

 head is about one-quarter of the length of the fish, and the greatest breadth 

 inside the fins is one-third of the length, or a little more. The caudal fin is 

 long, as are the dorsal and ventral fins. The eyes are elevated above the level 

 of the head, and are close together, side by side, hardly separated by an orbital 

 diameter. The mouth is small ; the lower jaw is the longer ; the jaws open 

 obliquely. The teeth are blunt and conical, small, and form two rows in the 

 upper jaw, and one row in the lower. The anterior nostril is tubular ; the 

 posterior is oval, and has no distinct tube. The dorsal fin extends from the 

 eye to the narrow part of the tail in front of the caudal fin. Its margin is 

 serrated. Its highest part is behind the middle of the body, so that the anterior 

 edge is longer than the truncated posterior edge. The anal fin commences 

 behind the pectoral, and reaches as far back as the dorsal. It is quite as high 

 as the dorsal, but being shorter, the anterior and posterior portions are nearly 

 equal. A row of rounded or star-like spiny tubercles margins much of the 

 length of the bases of these fins, one tubercle being placed in each interspace 

 between the fin-rays. The pectoral fins are alike on both sides of the body. 

 They are short, but rather longer than the ventral fins, which are placed below 

 and slightly in advance of them. The caudal fin is truncated. The scales are 

 small, with concentric lines and delicate radiating branched rays, which, 

 however, are developed only on the posterior two-thirds of the scale, and make 

 its margin irregular. The scales on the head are rudimentary. The lateral 

 line ascends a little over the pectoral fin, and its course is marked with star- 

 shaped tubercles, and similar tubercles margin it above and below. The 

 cephalic canals are very distinct^ running forward in a curved course between 

 the eyes, and giving off a sub-orbital branch and a longer branch to the lower 

 jaw. The common colour of the upper side of the body varies from brown to 

 olive-green. The fins are usually paler. The skin is white on the under side. 



There are twelve vertebra" in the body and twenty-three to twenty-four in 

 the tail. 



