DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 435 



The halibut were once very iibuiidaiit in .Mas^^a(•h^ltsetts r>a\ , but are uuw found cbieHy at 

 a depth of 100-300 fatlioms on the; sloiies of the outer banks, wliere they are smight liy a 

 large fleet of Gloucester ttshiiig schooners. Individuals are occasionally taken near the 

 shore. In 1S75 one weighing about :.'00 pounds was caught by a dory fisherman off Half- 

 way Eock, Salem Harbor, and one still larger in Gloucester Harbor, in August, 187S. 



The New London lialil)ut smacks obtain many halibut on the south part of Georges 

 Banks and the neighboring shoals. An individual was taken, years ago, on the outei side 

 of Fishers Island, Connecticut. The halibut may, in all probability, be found to be abun- 

 dant on the edge of the contine?ital slope south of Cape Cod, since here have been recently 

 obtained nearly all the species most constantly associated on the northern halibut grounds 

 on the outer edges of La Have, Browus, Sable Island, and other banks ofl' the coast of 

 Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. 



PLATYSOMATICHTHYS, Bleeker. 



Eeiiihardliu!!, Gill, Cat. Fish. E. Coast, N. Ainer. 1861, .50 (name only). 

 Plati/somuiichthiis, Bleeker. Coniptes Rendus, Acad. Sci. Alll^st^■n^aln. xiii. isty. 



Dextral pleuronectoids, having the body somewhat elongate. Head and mouth large; 

 maxillary reaching beyond vertical ft-om anterior margin of eye. Jaws with strong, un- 

 equal teeth; the upper with two series in front, which converge posteriorly, the lower with 

 a series of strong, distant teeth; vomer and palatines toothless. Gill rakers few in num- 

 ber, short and rough. Fins low, the caudal fin crescentic. Lower pharjTigeal teeth in a 

 single row. Scales small, cycloid, the lateral line straight. {Jordan.) 



PLATYSOMATICHTHYS HIPPOGLOSSOIDES, (Walbaum), Gooue aud Bean. (Figure 364.) 



rieiironectes ct/norjlossiis, Fabricius, 1780 (uot Gronovlus). 



rieuroiiectea hipjiofllossoides, Walbaum, Artedi, Pise, 1793, 1.51. 



Reinh<iriltiu.i hippoylosmkUa, Gill, Cat. Fish. E. Coast N. Am., 1861. 'lO; Prov. Acad. Nat. Sri. Phila., 1864, 218. 



Platysomatiehlhijs hippoijlossoidts, Goode and Bean, Cat. Fish. Essex Co., 1870, 7. — Jordax aud Gilbert, 



Bull. XVI, U. S. Nat. Mus., 819. — Collett, Nor.sk. Nordhavs. Exp. Fisk., l\2. 

 rieiironectes piiiyiiis, Fabricius, K. Vid. Sidsk. Nat. och Math. Afh., 1824, 4S. 

 Bippoijlossus pinguis, Gai.mard. Voy. Skand. et Lap. Poiss., pi. xxii.' 



Platysomulichthiispinguiit, Bleeker, Versl. Medekd. K. Akad. Wetensoh. Amsterilain, xiii, 1862, 426. 

 BippogUssus pinguis, CoLLETT, Norges Fiske, 1875, 135.— GtJNTHER, Challenger Report, xxii, 1887, 161. 

 Hippoglossits grcinhindiciis, Guntiier, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., IV, 1863, 404. 



Body elongate, its height one-third of its length, that of the head one-fourth. Eyes 

 parallel: the diameter of the orbit is one-eighth the length of the head, and one-half that 

 of the snout ; interorbital sp;ic(? flat, wider than the orbit. Lower jaw prominent, the length 

 of the maxillary two-fifths of head. Teeth conical, pointed, in two series, convergent pos- 

 teriorly on the upper jaw, those of the outer series decreasing in size; a pair of strong 

 canines in the inner series in front, the others very small; a series of strong, distant teeth 

 on lower jaw. Gill rakers sliort, thick, and strongly dentate. Fins naked. Dorsal and 

 anal rays simple, the dorsal ])(>ginning over posterior third of the eye, its longest rays one- 

 third length of head. Scales small, not ciliated. 



Radial formula: D. 100; A. 75. 



Color, brownish, or yellowish gray. 



An Arctic species frequently brought in by the halibut fisliing schooners of Glouceoter. 

 Its range extends as far south as the gully between Le Have and Browns Hanks and 

 Georges Banks. A young specimen, 165 mm. in length (D. 01 ; A. 72), was trawled by the 

 Albatross at station i'431, in 43^ N. lat., 57^ 40' 30" W. Ion., at a depf h of IL'9 lathoms. The 

 species also occurs in deep water oft' Norway, and a young one was taken by the Norwegian 

 North Atlantic Expedition, southwest of Bear Island, in 447 fathoms. Unlike adult indi- 

 viduals, the young have the blind side colorless. 



