382 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



and anal fins, as well as in the outer half of the caudal 

 fin and in the pectoral fin of the eye side, the fin- 

 niembrane was black, and the tips of the rays of the 

 dorsal and anal tins were yellowish white. The hind 

 part of the brancliiostegal membrane was black, the 

 juipil blackish Idue, the iris golden. The blind side of 

 the fish was ^vhite, finely punctated with black dots. 

 Tlie museum-specimens ])reserved in spirits generally 

 acquire the darker brown colour shown in Valenciennes' 

 figure in Gaimaiid (1. c). 



The range of the Pole in the Atlantic is extensive. 

 The species is known from the extreme north of Nor- 

 ^vay and from Iceland to the vicinity of Carolina (N. 

 America) and the Avest coast of France. In addition 

 to this Avide geographical range it also has an extensive 

 bathymetric distribution, for it lives in water of a 

 deptli varying from about 10 to 730 fathoms". The 

 advanced development of tiie muciferous cavities in the 

 head is also, we need hardly say, of ordinary occur- 

 rence in deep-sea fishes''. It is, therefore, extreme^ 

 proliable that the Pole has its true home in deep water, 

 and for some reason or other migrates thence to the 

 higher marine regions. If this is the case, we can easily 

 understand why the species is comparatively rare in 

 Scandinavia. Along the whole coast of Bohuslan, how- 

 ever, it is taken occasionally, generally in Flounder-nets, 

 at a deptli of from 10 to 20 fathoms. According to 

 Mal.ai it there prefers a soft, grayish, sandy bottom; 

 1)ut accoi'ding to Faber it has received the name of 

 Skjcerisiiifi (cf. the Swedish name Skui-flundra — Rock 

 Flounder) of the fishermen of Hirsholm and the Skaw, 

 where it is commoner than in Bohusliln, because it is 

 generally found on the reefs. Oft" Kullen, too, according 

 to ScHAGERSTROM, it bears this Danish name among the 

 fishermen. In the north of tlie Sound and southwards 

 to the neighbourhood of Landskrona it is sometimes 

 met ^vith, say both Schagerstkom and Winthek. It 

 has twice (in 1875 and 1880) been found in the ex- 

 treme west of the Baltic (MoBius and Heincke), but is 

 unknown further in. It is also said to be unknown on 

 tlie shelving west coast of Jutland (Kroyer and Win- 

 ther). According to Collett it is caught in Christiania 



Fjord all the year round, but mostly during the autumn 

 months, and in Trondhjem Fjord it is stated not to be 

 rare. The species was found bv the Norwegian Arctic 

 Expedition in West Fjord at a depth of 150 fathoms, 

 on a sandy bottom, where the temperature at the bottom 

 was 41° Fahr., and in Tana Fjord (East Finmark) at a 

 depth of 1"27 fathoms, on a bottom of mud and clay, 

 where the bottom temperature was 37° Fahr. According 

 to GooDE and Bean the corresponding temperature at 

 which the Pole has been found on the other side of the 

 Atlantic, is between 34° and 45° Fahr. Further .south 

 on the European side the Pole occurs, though not fre- 

 quently, round the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. 

 In the English Cliannel, according to Moreau, it is 

 "uncommon" and oft" Arcachon "extremely rare." 



The nature of the Pole's food is shown Ijy its teeth: 

 with the jaw-teeth it cuts or tears away its pre}' from 

 the bottom, and Avith the blunt, conical pharyngeals it 

 crushes the thin shell of its victim. Pexxaxt found 

 small crustaceans and starfish in its stomach, and 

 Kroyer small shellfish and worms. 



The spawning-season of the Pole in England, ac- 

 cording to Day, occurs in early summer, in ]\]av and 

 June; in Scandinavia both Kkoyeu and Malm found 

 females with tlie development of the ovaries so advanced 

 at the end of June that the spawning-season might be 

 expected in August. 



As the Pole is not caught anywhere in anv con- 

 siderable quantity, its preference for deep water render- 

 ing it difficult to reach with nets, while, like the rest 

 of the true Flounders, it seldom takes a bait, it is, 

 therefore, of no great economical importance^ Its flesh, 

 however, is excellent, and thus in many places it bears 

 local names that range it by the side of the Sole, to 

 which it is also more closely approximated by the form 

 of the body than any other of the true Flounders. "It 

 is without doubt our most delicious Pleuronectoid," 

 saj^s Malm, "and is usually very fat, a circumstance 

 which we should hardly expect from the thinness of its 

 body at the edges." Lilljeborg was informed by Mr. 

 C. A. Hansson that, on account of its fine flavour, the 

 fishermen of Stromstad call it Sockerskddda (Sugar Dab). 



" GooDE and Bkax, RiiU. Mus. Coiiip. Zool., Hiirv. Coll., Caiiibr., vol. X, No. 5, p. 19.0. 

 ' GOnther, Rep. ('hall. E.vped., Deep. 6'ca F,.<lu'.% p. XXVI. 



•■ In the winter of 1801 — 02 llie Pole was sometimes liroii.alit from Gotlienbiirs'- to tlie fisli-maikt-t at Stockholm. There it was 

 sold under the name of Sole. 



