386 



SCAXDINAVIAN FISHES. 



111(111 as the latter. On rare occasions it is cauglit in 

 the seine and on the liook. The flesh is flabby and 

 inferior to that of the Plaice. 



In the basin of the Atlantic the last two species, 

 Pleuronectes ci/hoi/Josshs and PL microccjjJialus, form, as 

 we have mentioned, a distinct division of the genus, a: 

 braiicli of the true Flounder-type, advancing in a di- 

 rection whicli sliows the affinity with tJie subfamily of 

 the Soles. Bonapaktk proposed" to establish a special 

 genus, Cynicoglossus, for the Lemon Dab, with its equally 

 prominent j;iws, thick lips, and without anal spine. In 

 the Pacific, on the west coast of North America, this 

 genus and Glyptocephalus are each represented by one 

 species, which, according to Lockington's descriptions', 

 has a striking resemblance to its Atlantic congener. In 

 the market of San Francisco both are sold under the 

 name of Sole. The Gh/pfocephalits species {GL zaclilrns) 

 is distinguished, however, from our Lemon Dab by the 

 large size of the pectoral tins, which on the eye side 



may even attain a length equal to ^:\ of that of the 

 body; and the Cynicoglossus species (C. pacificus) has 

 an extreme]}' shallow body, the greatest depth being 

 only about 26 — 30 % of the length. In the Atlantic, as 

 we have seen, GUfptocephalus is distinguished by shorter 

 pectoral fins and a relatively shallower body than is 

 generallv the case in Cynicoglossus. In the Pacific the 

 relations are reversed. Here we find a substitution of 

 the charactei's for each other \vhich in a wav shows the 

 near kinship between these forms. The next species, 

 however, will show that there is no wide gap between 

 these two genera and the true genus Pleuronectes, in its 

 most restricted meaning. But, in spite of the fact that 

 the series is so nearly unl)roken, it has also been proposed 

 to establish, for the species Avhich group themselves 

 round the following species, a distinct genus, Limanda, 

 characterized by the sharp arcuation of tlie anterior 

 part of the lateral line. 



(Ekstrom, Smitt.) 



THE COMMON DAB (sw. .sandflu.ndran). 

 PLEURONECTES LDL\NDA. 



Plate XX, fig. 3. 



JJody oral, the yreatcst depth of the l>ody in adult specUncns raryiny between od and 42 %' of the length thereof. 

 Dorsal fin irith at most about SO (65 — 80) rays, anal ivith at most about GO (50 — fil). Least depth of the tail 

 yciierally more than S % (betn-een 8 and %) of the length if the body and about 40 % ('-Ul — 44 %) of the length of the 

 head. Length <f' the head more than 18 % (in full-grown specimens :J2 — 1!> %) of the length of the body, and the 

 distance between tite anal fin and the tip of the snout more than 25 ?6 (in fnll-yr(nrn specimens from 3o to 27 %) of 

 fill' lenf/th of the body. Anal sjiine behind the rent present. Pays of the rent ral fins (>. Head without muciferous 

 carities. Lateral line sharply arcuate in the abdominal region (abore the jiectoral fins). Yertebrce :i9 or 40. Jaw- 

 teeth close together at th^ base, slightly compressed, conical (the crowns being, therefore, some distance apart), and 

 bluntly pointed, rdjout half as many on the eye side as on the blind side; pharyngeal teeth almost exactly the same 

 as in the preceding species: lou-er ph((ryngeals also resembling branchial arches. Coloration of the eye side usucdly 

 yellowish brown, with lighter sjmts; pectoral fin of the same colour as the body. 



R. bi: 7; D. 65—80; A. 51—61''; P. 10 1. ll"; V. C,f- 

 a. .v+12 1. 13 +.7;; L. lat. ca 90; Vert. 39 1. 4(1. 



.s'y;(. Passer asper sive si|uauiosus (qui a Gallis liiaiinde vocatiir): 

 Rondel., De Pise, lib. XI, cap. IX. Pleuronectes oculis a 

 doxtra, squaniis a.sppris, spina ad anuiii, dcntilms obtiisis, 

 AiiT., Gen., p. 17: S>jn., p. 33; Spec, p. 68. 

 Pleuronectes Limanda, Ltn., Hyst. A'at., ed. X, torn. I, p. 270; 

 QvENS., Vet.-Akad. llandl. 1806, pp. 54 et 220; Sw.urrz, 



Sv. ZooL, No. 16; Faber, Isis 1828, p. 880; Tidskr. f. 

 Nalurv. Kblivn, V (1828), p. 245; Nilss., Prodr. Ichth. 

 Scand., p. 56; SUiNDEV., v. Wr., Skand. Fisk., ed. 1, p. 150, 

 tab. 34; Kr., Danm. Fisk., vol. II, p. 298; Lilu., Vet.-Akad. 

 Handl. 1850. pp. 309 et 333; NiLSS., Skand. Fn., Fisk., p. 

 G27; Gthb, Cat. Brit. Mas., Fisli., vol. IV, p. 446; Lindstr., 

 Gott. Fisk. (Gotl. L. Husb. Sallsk. Arsber. 1866) p. 23; Coll., 

 Forh. Vid. Selsk. Christ. 1874, Tilla-gsb., p. 146; Malm, Gbys, 

 Boh. Fn., p. 525; WiNTH., Naturli. Tidskr. Kblivu, ser. 3, vol. 



" Iconoijr. Fn. Ital., torn. Ill (Fesci), No. 98 (d'ordine per la legatnra), Platessa passer. 

 '' Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 2 (1879), p. 86. 



' According to Day sometimes nearly 43, but thi.s in a specimen which he believed to bo a hybrid between this species and one of 

 the two following species. 



'' Snmelimes 50, according to Gottsche; sometimes 62, according to Lilljeborg. 



* On the blind side sometimes 9. According to Artedi sometimes 12 on the eye side. 



-^ Sometimes 5. 



