434 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



THE TURBOT (sw. PiGGnvAiirvEn). 

 BOTH US MAXIMUS. 



Plate XVIII, fig. 1. 



Greatest depth of the hod// more than 50 %, length of the head more than 28 %, postorhital length of the head 

 more than 17 %, length of the maxillary hones more than 12 %., length of the right branch of the hirer jaw more 

 than 15 %, distance between the anal fin and the tij) of the snout more than 30 %, length of the hasc of the left 

 ventrcd fin more tlian 10 %, of the right ventral fin more than 8 %, and greatest thickness of tlie body more than 

 8 %, of the lengtli of the body. First rays of the dorsal fin simple or only indistinctly branched. Number of rays 

 in the dorsal fin less fJian 70, in the anal fin less than 50. Least depth of tJte tail less than 20 %, and the length 

 of the caudal fin at the middle less than 30 %, of the greatest depth of the body. Body furnished on both sides 

 or at least on the eye side with, scattered, pointed, spinous tubercles, hut otherwise naked, though furnished with 



soft, verrucose, closed scale-sacs mosaiccdly arranged in the sJcin. 



E.br. 7; D. 57— 04"; .4. 42—47*; P. 12^; V. 6 ; V. 2 + 13 + 2; 

 Lin. lat. por. ca 70 — 80 ad. piiiii. caud; Vert. 30 — 31. 



Syn. Rliombus aculeatas, Rondel., De Pise, lib. XI, cap. II, ji. 

 310 (i/'rjfr«)' Aristotelis credit; liaud lamen liquet, quain 

 familia? speciem sub lioc nomine menioraverit Aristoteles); 

 ScHONEV., IchUi., NomencL, Slesv. Hoht., p. GO; Gottsche, 

 Wiegui. Arch. Naturg., I, 2 (1835), p. 172. 

 Rhombus ma.rimtis, WiLi,., Hist. Pise, lib. 4, cap. II, p. 94, 

 tab. F, 2; Ll.v. (Pleuronectes), Fit. Stiec, ed. I, p. 112 (ex 

 Pill, gotl.). No. 298; ,Si/st. Xat., ed. X, toni. I, p. 271; 

 QvENS.. Vet.-Akad. Handl. 180C, pp. 54 et 203; NiLSS. 

 Prodr. Ichth. ScaiuL. p. 58; Eksti!., Yet.-.\kad. Handl. 1834, 

 p. 56 (var.): Sohagerste., Pliy.siogr. Siillsk. Tidskr., p. 312; 

 Kr. (Phoiiibu.?), Daiun. Fiske, vol. 2, p. 424; Sunpe\. (I'leu- 

 roiieftcs), Stockh. L. Hiisli. Sallsk. Handl., H. G (1855), 

 pp. 82 et 1G5; NiLSS. (Rliombus), Chanel. Fit., Fisk., p. G3G; 

 Canestr., .\rch. Zool., Anat., Fisiol., vol. I, fasc. I (Genua 

 18G1), p. 25, tav. Ill, fig. 1; Gtiir, Cat. Brit. Miis., Fish., 

 vol. IV, p. 407; Mout;, Finl. Fiskar (disp.). -p. 24; Llnilstr., 

 Gotl. L. Hush. Sallsk. Arsber. 18G6, p. 24 (sep.); Stei.N'D., 

 Slzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math. Naturw. CI. LVII, I, (1868), 

 p. 714; Coll., Forh. Vid. Selsk. Christ. 1874, Tilla-gsh., 

 p. 137; ibid. 1879, No. 1, p. 7G; Malm, Gbgs, Boh. Fn., 

 p. 510; Wjnth., Naturh. Tidsk. Kbhvn, ser. Ill, vol. XII, 

 p. 37; Ben., Fisch., Fischer., Fischz. O. a. IF. Preuss., 

 p. 93; MoR., Hist. Nat. Poiss. Fr., toni. Ill, p. 338; Mela, 

 Vert. Feiiii., p. 305, tab. IX; MuB., Hcke, Fisch., Osts., 

 p. 89; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., vol. II, p. 11, tab. 

 XCVI; Coll. (Bothn.?), N. Mag. Naturv. Clirist., Bd. 29 

 (1884), p. 100; LiLLJ., -bu., Nor,j. Fisk., vol. II, p. 305; 

 Sl-ndm., Mela, Fml. Fisk., tab. XXII. 



In size tlie Tiirbot comes second nniong the Scan- 

 dinavian Flatfishes. Specimens 5 or 6 dm. loii.ii' are not 



rare on the ^vest coast. Nilsson states that a Turbot 

 was once brought by the fishermen of Rfia to the market 

 of Lund, which was 68 cm. long and weighed 7 kgm., 

 and tliat oft' Kullen Turl)ots weighing 16 kgm. are 

 sometimes taken. In the North Sea and the Irish Sea. 

 still larger specimens occur: Thomp.son'' mentions one 

 that weighed 'JO kgni. According to Days observations 

 the Turbot when ^'/j years old may have attained a 

 weight of 10 lbs., and in 2 j'ears more 20 lbs. About 

 three feet or perhaps one metre is the maximum lengtli 

 that may ^vith certainty be assigned to the Turljot; but 

 RoNDELET states that he saw a Turbot from the At- 

 lantic 5 ells long, 4 ells broad and 1 foot tliick, ac- 

 cording to the measures then in use. Tt) this statement 

 we may trace the origin of the a,ssertion which occurs 

 in later writers, that the Turliot may attain a length 

 of 7'/ 2 ft.'' These statements, it is true, are apparently 

 borne out V)y others-'^; but they are leased merely on 

 hearsay. 



The body is of a rounded rhomboid form. In 

 typical females the greatest depth of the body is about 

 60 %, and in males about 56 %, of the length of the 

 body. To this we may add the greatest height of the 

 dor.sal and anal fins, which is comparatively less in old 

 .specimens than in young, but fairl}' alike in the case 

 of both fins, varying in tlie former specimens between 



In the inter- 



" Here, ns in the case of the following fins, we confine ourselves to the numbers we have found in typical Turbot.' 

 mediate forms the rays of the dorsal fin may be as many as 70 or, according to Moreau, 72. 



'' According to Moreau sometimes 56. 



"^ Sometimes 11. 



'' ym. Hist. Irel, vol. IV, p. 200. 



' Olsen, Piscatorial Atlas, pi. 41. 



■' Couch (Fish. Brit. Isl., vol. III. p. 157) says that he "possesscil a note of an example of which the weight was seventy pounds;" 

 and Parnell (Mem. Wcrn. Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. VII, p. 375) quotes an account of a .specimen "that weighed one hundred and ninety pounds 

 measuring G feet across." 



