464 PLEUKONECTID^. 



q. Half-grown : skin. From Gronow's Collection. 

 r, s, t. Adult, half-grown, and young. 

 u-y. Adult, half-grown, and young : skins. 

 z-a. Adult: skeletons. British. 



Skeleton. — The bones are thin, slender or flexible, much less solid 

 than in the preceding genera. The maxillary, intermaxillary, pala- 

 tine, and pterygoid of the right side are very slender, those of the left 

 side stout ; the left intermaxillary is semicircularly bent, covered 

 with villiform teeth on its concave surface. The right mandible is 

 longer than the left, but the latter has a broad prominence covered 

 with viUiform teeth, and fitting into the concavity of the inter- 

 maxillary. The gill-covers are very broad, the suboperculum being 

 the largest, and the interoperculimi as large as the operculimi. There 

 is a rather low transparent ridge above the upper orbit, to which is 

 attached the first interneural — a long styliform bone, which is longer 

 and stronger than any of the other interneurals ; it is situated per- 

 fectly horizontally. 



The abdominal portion of the vertebral column is composed of nine 

 vertebrae, and contained fom- times and three-fourths in the length of 

 the caudal portion. The four anterior neural spines are dilated and 

 rather strong ; the seven posterior abdominal vertebrae are provided 

 with strong haemal spines, whilst the parapophyses and ribs are 

 scarcely developed. This occurrence of well-developed haemals of 

 the abdominal vertebrae is, perhaps, unique in this and the preceding 

 orders. Sometimes two interhaemals and interneurals correspond to 

 a haemal and neural, sometimes only one. The first interhaemal and 

 haemal rather feeble. 



2. Solea kleinii. 



Rhombus kleinii, Hisso, Eur. Merid. iii. p. 255. 

 Pleuronectes solea, var. d, Nardo, Prodr. Ichth. Adr. no. 136. 

 Solea kleinii, Bonap. Faun. Ital. Pesce ; Costa, Faun. Naj). ii. p. 42. tav. 46 ; 

 Canestr. Arch. Zool. i. p. 34. tav. 3. fig. 5. 



D. 80. A. 64. P. 9. {Bonap.) 



80-91. 64-70. 8. {Canestr.) 



The height of the body is one-third of the total length (without 

 caudal), the length of the head one-fifth. Eyes rather close together ; 

 nostrils on the blind side of moderate width. Pectoral of moderate 

 size. BroAvnish, dotted with brown and white ; vertical fins black ; 

 pectoral black, with white extremity. {Bonap.) 



Adriatic and Mediterranean. 



3. Solea seuegalensis. 



Kaup, I. c. 



This species is characterized thus : — 



D. 84. A. 70. P. 8. 

 Slightly elongate ; blackish -brown ; pectoral as long as the di- 

 stance between eye and snout. Body and fin-rays rough. The lateral 



