822 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



1365. P. opliryas J. & G. (sp. nov.) 



Color brownish gray, mottled with darker; fins dusky, with round, 

 dark blotches. Body moderately elongate, thickish ; mouth not very 

 large, oblique; each jaw armed with a single row of large, sharp, wide- 

 set teeth, the front teeth enlarged and canine-like, about 8 on each side 

 of lower jaw; lateral teeth of upper jaw minute, close-set; chin promi- 

 nent; maxillary not reaching beyond eye, scarcely half length of head. 

 Diameter of eye about equal to length of snout, 5^ in head. Dorsal fin 

 low, beginning over front of eye, its first rays about 5 in head; anal 

 spine obsolete. Gill-rakers rather long and slender, 5 -f- 14 in number, 

 the longest two-thirds eye, 3f in maxillary, their length i to 5 times their 

 breadth at base. Scales very small, not ctenoid, with few accessory 

 smaller ones ; curve of 'lateral line 4^ in straight part. Interorbital space 

 a rather narrow bony ridge, anteriorly naked, not wider than pupil (in 

 specimen 8 inches long), the ridge extending backward, forming a con- 

 spicuous elevated rim behind uppsr eye. Pectoral about half length of 

 head; caudal |. Head 3|; depth 2^. D. 88; A. 67; Lat. 1. 90. One 

 specimen known; from Charleston, S. C. 



1266. P. «lcBUf&tus (L.) J. & G.— Common flounder. 



Blackish olive, mottled and blotched with darker; fins similarly 

 marked, the pectorals more or less distinctly barred. Body oblong, 

 moderately compressed; mouth wide, oblique, the mandible very heavy 

 and much projecting; 8 to 10 teeth on each side of lower jaw, the two 

 anterior teeth very long ; anterior teeth of upper jaw strong, but smaller 

 than those in the lower jaw; the lateral teeth very small and close-set. 

 Eyes small, shorter than snout, about one sixth length of head, and 

 in the adult as wide as the broad, flattish, scaly, interorbital area; the 

 latter is much narrower in the young. Scales small, cycloid; accessory 

 scales few. Gill-rakers lanceolate, dentate, stoutish, wide-set, much 

 shorter than eye, the longest 2^ times as long as broad at base, 5| in 

 in maxillary, about 2 + 10 in number; j)ectoral fin about as long as 

 maxillary, which extends beyond eye, and is rather more than hulf 

 length of head. Dorsal low, its anterior rays somewhat exserted, but 

 short; caudal double concave, the middle rays produced. Anal spine 

 obsolete; ventrals small. Fins all scaly. Head 3|; depth 2^. D. 88 

 (S5 to 03) ; A. GG (G5 to 73) ; Lat. 1. about 100. New England to Texas 

 and West Indies; everywhere one of the commonest species. 



{Pleuronectes (Icntatus L. Syst. Nat. i, 458: Plafessa ocellaris Dckay, New York Fauna, 

 Fish. 1842: Pseudorhombns dentatus and P. ocellaris Giinther, iv, 425-430: Chcenopsetla 



