FLOUNDKlt-FIsilKS. 



427 



mcmbniues inf'eriorly iiidopcudcnt 

 or meeting eacli otlicr iu diflcrent 

 planes, the one covering tlic other 

 to a greater or less extent. 

 a: \'entrnl lins I'rce from the aniilfiu. 

 an: Scales, when present, cy- 

 cloid. .Median wall of tlie 

 liranchinl cavity unbroken 

 under tlie lower pliaryn- 

 geals. 

 Genus Bothus: 



a: Rays in tlie anal lin at 



most 50.... Botlms nia.iiinus. 



li: Kays in the anal iin more 



than 50... Bolhiift ritoiithitg. 



lib: .Scales, on the eye side at 

 least, ciliated. ^Median %\all 

 of the branchial cavity 

 broken between tlie lower 



pharyngeals and the uro- 

 hyoid bone. 



a: Head of the vomer I'ur- 

 nished with teeth. Scales 

 of the blind side cycloid. 



(ienus LepiJorliombuis Lepidorliomhas u-hiff. 



(i: Vomer toothless or with 

 indistinct tectli. Scales 

 of the blind side also 

 ciliated. 



Genus Scuplit/ialinii.i Scojththaliiuis norveyicus. 



b: \'entral fins united by the fin- 

 membrane to the beginnina: of 

 the anal fm. Median wall of 

 the branchial cavity broken be- 

 tween the lower pharyngeals and 

 tlie iirohyoid bone. Head of the 

 vomer furnished witli teeth. 

 Genus Zeugopterus ZewjopUrns piindatus. 



Genus PLATOPHRYS. 



■lair-tevtli of nit'iforin size, sdkiII mid po'nilcd, set in a singJe or i/oiihlr nur mi the iiitrniKirilliiri/ Ijoiies (ual in 

 line or several roics in the loicer Jiiir- Loirer pliariiniieal teeth set in a single ron-. All the _fii/-rai/s, except the 

 cinidal raifs proper, simple. Branchioster/al mcinhraiies inferiorJi/ iiniteil into a hroail, free fghl: hranchiostegal 

 riii/s 7. Merliiin irall of the hrinichial cctvitg inibroken under the tmrer phari/ngcals. Xo teeth (in the vomer, 



palatine ttones, or tongue. Ventral fins free frinu tlie anal fin. 



This geiiu.s was established by Swainsox" expressly 

 tu iiH'lude tlie tonus that are distinguished by the -wide 

 separation of the eyes, and belong chiefly to the tropical 

 seas. Bleeker' and subsequently Gunther' called the 

 same group RhomhoidiiJithi/s: but the former soon'' re- 

 stored Swainson's name, and in his great work on the 

 fishes of the Dutch East Indies he combined \vith this 

 genus, though with the rank of a subgenus, another, 

 Arnoglossus, Avhich lie had formerly' iielicved to require 

 an independent place in the .system. This union had 

 been iJrevioush' foreshadowed, however, liy GCnthkk, who 

 in his Catalogue, referred to the genus lUioml/aidichthgs 

 a .species {Rh. mogki) with fairh' narrow, though con- 

 cave, interorbital space. In this manner the genus 



riatophri/s is made to embrace the Bothoid forms which 

 are most \\idely separated by the dift'erent position (jf 

 the eyes, l)ut even in this respect connected by inter- 

 mediate forms, and which fall undei- the characters 

 given above. Most of these species, in which the eves 

 are more or less far apart, are further characterized Ijy 

 small and firmly attached scales — at lea.st 80 in a row 

 along the sides of the body — and, generally speaking, 

 by the great depth of the body. These small-scaled 

 species, which belong to the tropical seas all round the 

 glol)e and also to the Mediterranean and the Sea of 

 Japan, form the subgenus for which Bleekek retained 

 the name of Platophrgs. 



" Xat. Ilisl. Fish., Amphib. and Ecpt., vol. II, pp. 187 :\nd 302. 



'' Ael. Sor. Scicnt. Indc-Necrl., I (1850), lieschr. Visclis. u. Manado rn Makassar, v. 67. 



' Cat. Bril. Mii.-\, FisI,., vol. IV, p. 431. 



■' Vers], en Meded. Akad. Wetenseli. Amstcrd.. XIII (l.SG-2). p. 420. 



'• L. c. 1.. 427. 



