j'L(>rNi)Ei:-i'i.srii:,s. 



377 



the North Sea ai'e made chiefly in tlie trawl. The flesh 

 is firm, white, and of good flaNour. In this respect 

 the Sole ranks beside, in the opinion of many above, 



the Turbot; bnt jnst as the Turbot must be boiled, the 

 Sole, to i-etain its Ijoasted flavour, must be eaten fried. 



(Ekstrom, Smitt.) 



Subfamily PLEURONECTINA. 



Snout not elongated: the loirer Jair most prominent. Mouth small and oblique, the gape slighthj curved at the 



sides. Jaw-teeth fewer and smaller on the eye side than on the blind side. Ventral fins situated one on each 



side of the ventral margin, their rays close together at the base. Eyes large or at least middle-sized. Pseudo- 



branchia well-developed. Gill-rakers small or middle-sized, and scattered". 



The Flatfishes commonest in our waters, grouped 

 round the Flounders proper, range themselves in this 

 subfamily. Only three of GOnther's genera (Pleuro- 

 nectes, Parophrys and Psammodiscus), containing 30 

 species according to his Catalogue, can ])e referred to 

 it, all of them, so far as their locality is known, be- 

 longing to the temperate and cold parts of the oceans 

 of the Northern Hemisphere, and at least one of them, 

 the Pole {Plcaronectes cynoglossus), with a range ex- 

 tending from the littoral zone to a depth of about 

 700 fathoms. The geographical range of several spe- 

 cies also embraces the whole of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere. When we reflect too that these fishes also make 

 their way into fresh water, and can thus sustain life 

 under circumstances of the most opposite nature, we 

 may reasonably expect here to find the explanation of 

 the great variabilit}- of the characters which has given 

 birth to the distinction of species, in cases where we 

 should probably speak only of local varieties of one 



single species. This increase in the number of the spe- 

 cies has been accompanied by a tendency to establish 

 more genera in the subfamily. But GCnther remarks*, 

 not without reason, that "if we were to attribute to 

 some of the characters the same (generic) value as in 

 other Pleuronectidce, we should be obliged to establish 

 a genus for almost every species, and to separate fishes 

 ■which evidenth' form one natural group." We easily 

 find, however, that the distinctions between some of the 

 species are of \ery different nature from the distinctions 

 betAveen others. Even in the Scandinavian fauna, Avhich 

 contains only five species of this subfamily, we may 

 distinguish in this manner between at least two differ- 

 ent groups of species, the one, with its numerous ver- 

 tebrae and fin-rays and more Sole-like body, indicating 

 a transition to the preceding subfamily, and the other 

 containing tlie most typical Flounders, the Swedish 

 ''shdddor." There thus seems to be every reason to 

 recognise this difference as subgeneric. 



Genus PLEURONECTES. 



Jair-teefh of moderate size, set in one or two roirs, pointed or broad. Xo palatine or vomerine teeth. 



These fishes, which the ancient Greeks called ifJi^rrai, \ genus corresponded to the modern family Pleuronectidce. 



and the Romans passeres% were ranged by Artedi in I The limitation which is generally given to the genus 



the genus Pleuronectes" . In his writings, however, as at the present day, Avas proposed by GCnther', who 



in those of Linnaeus and their immediate sucessors, this ! adopted Bleeker's' suggestion, and separated from the 



" In tlie genus Psammodiscus, however, according to Glnther, the gill-rakers are close-set. 



'' Cat., 1. c, p. 438. 



■■ "A colore passerum avium, nam parte supina albicant, prona f u.'^ei sunt et terrei coloris, instar passerum avium," Rosi'ELET : De Pjsa., 



lib. XI, cap. VIII. 



'' TtkevQOV, side; vr/.TYig, swimmer. 



' Cat., 1. c. 



/ Versl., Mcdedeel. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam, l.S Deel. (18G2), p. 429. 



48 



Scandinavian Fishes. 



