THE SOLES 76 



its habits, but it is said to spawn to the south-west of the 

 British Islands and in the Mediterranean from February to 

 July, and the larvae are (naturally) smaller than those of the 

 common sole. It is caught at from 20 to 150 fathoms. It is 

 too small to be of great economic value. Most of the post- 

 larval fry have been found in water more than 20 fathoms deep. 

 A fry of 1-2 inch, caught in 29 fathoms off the Eddystone in 

 1914 by R. S. Clark (5th March), is the smallest ' adolescent ' 

 fish of this species actually recognized. It was presumably 

 at least eight months old. Lebour finds that the larvae 

 (caught in April off Plymouth) were feeding on much the same 

 food as the common sole. 



The French Sole {S. lascaris) or Sand Sole does not usually 

 exceed 14 inches. It is very rare ^ in the Mediterranean, and 

 inhabits the south-west region. The fry have been taken in 

 1920 close inshore at the entrance to Plymouth Sound in 

 September. They measured from one-fifth to two-fifths of an 

 inch long. The spawning period is June to August. A speci- 

 men reared at Plymouth by R. S. Clark measured 0-3 inch in 

 the middle of September and 0-6 inch at the end of October, 

 when it went to the bottom. It grew 0-3 inch in four weeks. 

 The food resembles that of the other soles. 



It is fairly evident that much research remains to be done 

 on our commercial soles, particularly in the direction of rearing 

 the young, transplanting the small fish, and cultivating them 

 generally. 



It is also important to discover the causes which affect their 

 migrations ; and that the work of French experimenters should 

 be made known to English readers. 



1 P. Gourret, Les Pecker ies et les Poissona de la Mediterranee {Provence) 1894. 



