464 PLEURONECTID^. 



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

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

 tt-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 villiform teeth, and fitting into the concavity of the inter- 

 maxiUaiy. The gill-covers are very broad, the suboperculura being 

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

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

 attached the first intemeural — 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 four 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, whUst 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 interhcemals and interneurals correspond to 

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

 t emal rather feeble. 



2. Solea kleinii. 



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

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

 Solea kleinii, Bonap. Faun. Ital. Pescc ; Costa, Faui ■ . Nap. 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. Brownish, dotted with brown and white ; vertical fins black ; 

 pectoral black, with white extremity. {Bonap.) 



Adriatic and Mediterranean. 



3. Solea senegalensis. 



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 



