FLUKES. 



447 



GuNus LEPIDORHOMBUS. 



Jair-teeth of nHiform she (no canines), po'iutcd, recurred, siihiII. m/d set in a card on the front part of the inter- 

 maxiUanj tiones and af tin' loirer jair. Head of the roiiier also furnished ivith small teeth, liat the imlatine hones 

 and tongue smooth. Loirer phariingeal teeth set in several rows {cardiform). Most of the fn-raijs branched. 

 Dranehiostegal membranes partiall// united below, but further back meeting in different planes, the one crossing 

 the other. Branchiostegal rays 7. Middle a-nll of the branehiostegal cavity pierced above the nrohyoid bone by 

 a large hole. Ventral fins free from the anal fin. Scales on the eye side of the body ciliated at the hind margin, 

 on the blind side smooth-margined. Anal sp'nie and jireajud spines n-a)iting. Distance between the anal fin and 

 the tip of the snout greater than the length aj' the head or only slightly less than it. 



Tlie following three genera, which were long coni- 

 l)inecl, not unnaturally, witli the preceding genus — so 

 close is the connexion lietween them — are characteriz- 

 ed in the first place by the peculiarity pointed out 

 first by Steenstrup", that the median wall between 

 the two branchial cavities is bfoken below the branchial 

 arches and the lower pharyngeals. But they also de- 

 viate more than any other of tlie Bothoids from the 

 symmetrical piscine type, in tlie transference of the 

 posterior parts of the dorsal and anal fins to the blind 

 side. We have already observed a slight tendency in 

 this direction in the case of the Brill; but here this 

 asymmetry is more and more developed till it culminates 

 in the termination of these fins l)y a distinct lobe on 

 the blind side. 



The genus Lepidorhombus'' resembles Bofhus in 

 the dentition of the head of the vomer and the separa- 

 tion of the ventral fins from the anal fin; but, apart 

 from the division of the wall of the branchial cavitj', 

 is of an entirely different form of liody. The body is 

 more elongated, narrow, and thin, the greatest height 

 of the dorsal and anal fins being situated further back. 

 The scales, too, are more plentiful and larger, but thin 

 and, on the eye side, ciliated at the hind margin. Like 

 the following genera, too, but in a still higher degree, 

 Lepidorhombus is distinguished from Both us by the 

 shallower peduncle of the tail, the least depth of the 

 body, which in Both us is at least about 10 % of the 



length of tlic body, being at most about 7 % thereof 

 in L^ejjidorhombus. This genus dift'ei'S from the two 

 following genera, apart from the characters given above, 

 chiefly in the large size of the gape. Even the branch 

 of the lower jaw on the blind side, which is somewhat 

 shorter than that on the eye side, measures distinctly 

 more than half the length of the head, in adult speci- 

 mens at least about 55 % thereof; while in the follow- 

 ing genera this proportion is at most a little less than 

 50 %. 



The genus L^epidorhombus has been divided into 

 three species, all belonging to European waters: Lepi- 

 dorh. Boscii'', l^elonging to the Mediterranean, with 

 elongated bod}' and large, deciduous scales, and with 

 fewei- rays in the dorsal fin (75 — 82) and the anal 

 (62 — 66); Lepidorh. u-hiff {megastoma), belonging to 

 the Mediterranean, where it is known bv the name of 

 Cardine, and the Atlantic outside, up to the soutii of 

 Great Britain and Ireland, where it bears the names 

 of Whiff' and Carter, ^vith elongated body, the greatest 

 depth being less than ' ^ of the length, and more nu- 

 merous and more firmly attached scales; and the more 

 northern L^epidorh. vclivolans, with deeper body than 

 the latter. Gigijoli, however, proposed, according to 

 Day, to unite these forms into one single species; and 

 the opinion most generally current at present, and pro- 

 bably the correct one, is that at least the la.st two 

 forms should be regarded as one species. 



'■ Overs. Dske Vid. Selsk. Forh. 18G5, p. 100. 



'' GOnther, subgenus. Cat. Brit. Mm., Fish., vol. IV, p. -107. 



' Fleuronectes Boscii, Risso, Iclith. Nice, p. 319, pi. VIL fig. 33; Bon.\p. F>i. Ital., Ill, tav. Xo. 97, fig. 2. 



