FI.OrNDKK-KIMlKS. 



3()1 



Miii'fli, tlie season ■which in the Sduthcrn II('mis|ihcrc 

 corresponds to our autunin: Imt accordinu- to Kisso", 

 the (ireat Flying-fish of the .Mediterranean has its 

 ovaries full in s])rin,g. 



Kxocdchts ro/ifdi/s is a rai'c s|>eeies even on the 

 west coast of I'^rance, lhon,i;h e\'cn thert; it has long' 

 been known, as in liis lime Di iia.mkl'' received a s])e- 

 cinieu 43 cm. long, from the luiglish Channel. On the 

 south coast of Ireland and in the l')iastol Chainiel it has 

 lieen ol)ser\ed .somewhat of'tener, e\cn in shoals, it is 

 .said to have been taken once in the Irish Sea, north 



of the isle of .Man: hut it can scarcely he stated to 

 occur further north on the coast of (ireat ISritain. Still, 

 a specimen aliout .")2 <'m. long, accoi'ding to Esm.mik'', 

 was caught ''in a net off' Moss at the head of C'hristiania. 

 l-'jord, about 18')0." The specimen is [)i'eserved in 

 Christiania Museum, but is somewhat (hiniaged. Ll'TKEN, 

 wild was enabled to make a careful examination of this 

 specimen, fixes its species as most closely approximating 

 to Exococtits hdli'ioish, though he is unable to refer it witli 

 certaint\ to any of the species yet described. f.iLL.JiOBOKG 

 uidiesitatinglv refers it to ExorodiiH rolifaiis {exsiliens). 



HETEROSOMATA . 



Maldcoptcrjiii'Kni Eh'iifhcroc/iKifcs in irliirh <if least flic orbital rerfion and the mouth are iivf^ummefrieal in the ailiitt 



state, irifh Jiatli ei/cs set an the same side of the liodif. 



"Scarcelv auA* other animal form," wrote Suxdevall 

 in tlie first edition of this work, '"is so sharply defined 

 by its characters and external a])])earance as the Flat- 

 fisJies . . . Thev are characterized by their l)i'oad, strongly 

 compressed body, with the dorsal and anal tins occu- 

 pying almost its whole lengtli, and especially by the 

 fact that both eves are set on the same side of the 

 head. Tlu' skull is so twisted that tlie eye on one side 

 has been removed to the other. Thus the Flatfishes in 

 their normal state are of a structure that in all other 

 animals would be an extremely remarkable monstrosity, 

 and if thev were unusual, we should undoubtedly re- 

 gard them as the most wonderfully formed of all crea- 

 tures; but now that we see this animal form so often, 

 it generally excites but slight attention. A Flatfish 

 whose eves were situated like those of other animals, 

 would be a monster... In sjjite of this deformity of 

 the head, however, the cranial bones are almost exactly 

 the same as those of other fishes, being abnormal only 

 in shape and position. In the other ])arts of the body. 



too, there is a certain lack of symmetry, though to a 

 nuich more restricted extent. The mouth is ahvays 

 somewhat awry, and the teeth different on each side, 

 being often wanting on the upper or eye side; the 

 pectoral fin on the under or blind side is smaller; the 

 vent is turned towards the same side etc. But the 

 most striking difference between the sides is that the 

 eye side is coloured, generally ^vith a dark, brownish 

 tint, and the blind side wdiite. This jjeculianty, as 

 well as the position of the e)'es, is very nearly connected 

 with the singular manner in which these fishes move. 

 They swim lying fiat on one side, with the blind side 

 turned towards the bottom, the eyes and the more de- 

 vclo|ied colour being turned upwards to the light . . . 

 Sometimes, lajwexer, we meet witli specimens in Avliich 

 the lilind side is .spotted or partly of the same colour 

 as the eye side." 



This want of symmetry in the Flatfishes has been 

 a subject of investigation for many naturalists of recent 

 times. Van Bexeden', Malm', Steexstrup'', TiiAQUAiR*, 



l.S.S; Iclitli. Anal. (185G) p. .^54. Order Heterosomatn in Cope, Trans. 



" Eur. Mei:, toine 3, p. 446. 



* Tr. d. Peches, part. 11, sect. 3, y. 480, t.ib. XXII, fig. 2 

 ' See C'OLLETT. 1. c. 



'' Family Heterosomes, Dt'M., Zool. Anal. (1806) pp. 110 am 

 Ainer. Phil. Soc. Philad., n. ser., vol. XIV (1871), p. 456. 



* Bull. Acnd. Roy. Belg. Bniss., tonic XX, part. Ill, p. 206. 



/ Ofveis. yet.-.\kad. Forli. 1854, p. 17;-5; Vet.-Akad. Handl., Bd. 7, No. 4, pl. 1 and 2. 



? Overs. D. Vid. Selsk. Forli. 1863, p. 145; 1876, p. 174, tab. I— IV. 



'' Trans. Linn. Sue, vol. XXV (1866) p. 263, tab. 29 — 32; Proc. Hoy. Pliys. Soc. Edinb. 1864—1865, p. 215. 



.Scv/ n tliiwvia n Fi.^li es . 



46 



