DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 457 



SOLEA VULGARIS, Quknsel. 



rieuronecfes solea, LlNN^us, Systema Natural, <m1. x, 1758, i, 270; cd. xii, 17(l(i, 157. 



Solea vulgaris, Quensel, Vet. Akad. Haudl., 180G, 2;i().— Risso, Hist. Nat. Eur. Merid., iti, 247.— BoN-APAnTE 



Fauua Italioa, Pesci, fasc. v.— GCnther, Cat. Fish. IJiit. Mus., iv, 4G3.— Vaillant, Exp. Sci. Travailleur 



et Talisman, Poissous, 18U. 



Body elongateov^iito, its hei.^ht- little more tliiiii onetliird of its IciiiiHi. Well <le- 

 veloped pectorals on both sides, luterorbital si>iice two-tbirds of length of snout. Lateral 

 line straight, containing about ICO scales. 



Radial formula: D. 73-84; A. 01-73. 



Color greenish or brownish-gray, spotted with brown; pectoral of right side with a 

 black or blackish blotch; left side white. 



This species, the common .sole, is found from Trondlijems Fjord, <i5 N. lat., to Gibraltar, 

 and through the Mediterranean, at least to the head of the Adriatic. Like many shoal- 

 water forms of the north, it occurs in the cooler depths near its southeru limit, and the 

 French Expedition found it on the Banc d'Arguin in 235 meters (station xci). 



MICROCHIRUS, Bonaparte. 



Microchinis, Bonaparte, Cat. Med. Pesci d'Eiiroi)e, No. 429. 

 Buglossiis, (.subgcmis), GCnthek, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., iv, 402. 



A genus closely related to Solra, but perhaps sepai-ated by its very minute pectorals. 

 MICROCHIRUS VARIEGATUS, (Do.V(,van), Moreau. 



Fleuronectes varie/iahm, Donovan, Nat. Hist. Brit. Fisli., 1808, jd. (;xvii. 



Solea ( BiKjhtxuKs) varie.galiis, GiiNTfiER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mtis., iv, 18(i2, 4()S). — Day, Fishes of Great Britain 



anil Ireland. II, 43, pi. cviii, (ii;. 1.— Vaillant, Exp. Sci. Travailleur et Talisman, 1888, 190. 

 Mlr.ror.hinis rariegalwn, Moreaw, Hist. Nat. Poiss. France, 181, Ml, 317. 

 PUnirnnecte.K micrnchinis, Dk La Roche, Ann. Mus., xni, 356, liir. 2. 

 Ph'uroiuTles Miitigili, Risso, lobth. Nice, 1810, 310. 

 Solea Maiigilii, Bonaparte, Fauna Italica-, Pesci, Fasc. v. — Canestrini, Arch. Zool., i, 2;t, pi. iii, (ig. 3; 



Pesci d'ltalia, IfiG. 

 Pleuroiwcfis liiigulii, Pennant, Briti.sh Zoiilog.v, 1812, in, 313, pi. xi.viii. 

 Atonochiriis lingula, Costa, Fauna Nap<ditaiia, ii, 50. 

 Microiihirii8 lingula, Bonaparte, lov. cit. 



Sole-like fishes, having boily .somewhat ehmgate, its height Iii to 2^ in total length; 

 the length of head 5i. Width of iuterorbital s]>ace equal to length of snout and 

 diameter of orbit, and 4— ti times in length of head. Pectoral of blind side minute, the 

 other very small, its length 4i in that of heatl. Scales in lateral line 85. 



Radial formula: D. 63-73; A. 53-57. 



Color, brownish-gray, with liiown transverse bands; much darker on the vertical tins. 



This form occurs as far noitii as Scotland and England, where it is caught in trawl nets, 

 and has been taken south of Ireland in 15(1 fathoms; it also occurs along the west coast of 

 France, and in the Jlediterranean, as far as to the (rulf of C.ciioa, and the head of the 

 Adriatic. The French vessels found it off Spain in (i(> to 120 metiers; off Soudan, in 130 

 meters; and at 300 meters in the Gulf of Cascouy (Travailleur, 1880, station xvir). 



MICROCHIRUS PROFIJNDB'OLIIS, (Vaili.ant). (i.ioi.i: and ]!i:an. 

 Solea prnfiindicola, Vaii-i.ant, Exp. Sci. Travailleur et Talisman, 18SS, 100. 



A Microchinin, having the height of the body one third of its length; the head one- 

 fifth. Snout round, inconspicuous. Mouth small, extending scarcely to the vertical from 

 the middle of tlie lower eye, with t.'etli only on (he l>lind side. Upper eye in advance of 

 the lower one and well opened, while the latter is curtained by an eye lid which hides it 

 to a large extent. The diameter of tlie orbits is about two fiftlis the length of the head; 

 width of the iuterorbital space about one third less. Lateral lines extending without per- 

 ceptible curvature from the upper eye to the middle of the caudal. Scales small, ctenoid 



