wiiirF, 



451 



iiii-i';i\s fire covered with scales for ;i lircnter or less 

 pM.rt (if theii' len^'tli mi the eye side of the hodx ; Imt 

 this covering grows gradiuilly uurrowcr in front, the 

 caudal ra)'S niLil the posterior rnys of the dorsal and 

 anal fins being seal}- to tiic very tip, but the anterior 

 rays of the last tAvo iins, as well as the pectoral and 

 ventral rays, oidy half-way up, or only at the base, or 

 even, in front, entireh- naked. The same rule applies 

 to the blind side, but here the scales disappear still 

 more rapidly, the pectoral and ventral fins of this side 

 being naked. 



The lateral line proper runs upwards from the 

 temporal region (the posttemporal bone), but soon takes 

 a slightly curved, horizontal dii'ection for a distance 

 about e(pial to the postorbital length of the head, and 

 then bends down rather suddenly to the middle of the 

 side, running straight back from this point along the 

 middle of the side out over the caudal tin. In the 

 coui'se of the lateral line the Whiff is thus most like 

 the Brill, though the bend is still more elongated, with 

 more marked steps. The change which is caused by 

 growth in the pectoral fins, and which we have men- 

 tioned al)ove, here gives rise to the character by which 

 Couch proposed to distinguish between Lepidoyliomhus 

 megastoma ■ — somewhat }'ounger, with relatively longer 

 pectoral fins, the tip of the pectoral fin of the eye side 

 extending to the end of the curved part of the lateral 

 line — and L. relivolans — the largest specimens, in 

 which the length of the pectoral fin, even on the eye 

 side of the body, is less than that of the curved part 

 of the lateral line. 



The internal organs are like those of Bothus; but 

 the stomach is still more saccate, and at the end of 

 the pyloric part, which rises along the front side of 

 its bottom, are attached t^vo middle-sized appendages, 

 curved in a doAvn\vard direction. 



Malm, who had seen fresh specimens of the Whift", 

 describes the coloration as follows: "The left side of 

 the l)ody is throughout of a light reddish, clayey gray", 

 with 9 blackish shadings on the dorsal fin and 6 on 

 the anal, the posterior ones being darkest. The caudal 

 fin has two similar markings at the end of its first 

 third, and three, one above another, at the middle of 

 its length, these two series forming as it were trans- 



verse bands. Here and thei-e on the body, especially 

 behind the middle, we find blackish collections of streaks, 

 these being caused by tlie brownish black colour of the 

 hind margins of the scales at these spots. The pectoral 

 fin is of the same colour as the body, with the excep- 

 tion of the last ray, which is white and opalescent. 

 The (!\es ai-e yellowish brown above, yellowish white 

 l)elow. The pupil is bluish black. The iris is marked 

 with a small, lemon-coloured ring next the pupil. At 

 the top the iris forms a broad, rounded lobe, which 

 encroaches upon the pupil, and is twice as large in the 

 right eye as in the left. The right side of the body 

 is entirely white." 



The true habitat of the Whift" seems to lie round 

 the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland and further 

 south; it is said to be i-are in the Mediterranean. Still, 

 it is of frequent occurrence on the Norwegian coast up 

 to Trondhjem Fjord, and has once, on the 20th of 

 April, 1868, been found within the Skaw (Malm). It 

 has long been known: even Jago sent to Ray'' an easih' 

 recognisable figure of a Wli'if, and Duhamel" figured 

 it under the name of limandelle on grande calimande. 

 Owing to the thinness of its body, however, it has never 

 excited the fisherman's interest, and we thus know but 

 little of its manner of life. It is also strictly a deep- 

 sea fish, as indicated by the large eyes. One of the 

 specimens in the Royal Museum was taken N.N.W. of 

 Bergen, at a depth of between 100 and 200 fathoms. 

 Like man}' other fishes of this nature, however, it is 

 occasionally borne to the surface in a helpless condi- 

 tion. Its appearance on these occasions has given it 

 the name of Sail Fluke, conferred upon it by the fisher- 

 men of the Orkneys, who believe that in winter the 

 Whift" ascends in calm weather to the surface, and by 

 elevating the caudal fin turns it into a kind of sail. 

 Frequently, however, it drifts ashore, and then hastens 

 to hide itself in the sand, unless some keen-eyed gull 

 seizes it at once, tears out the liver, which seems to 

 be a delicacy, and then bears off the fish to some loneh' 

 cliff to be eaten at leisure''. It is said to be most 

 common on the coasts of Devonshire and Cornwall, 

 where it ascends so near shore on a sandy bottom that 

 it is taken both in the trawl and with hook and line. 

 The specimen obtained from the Skaw by Malm was 



" V. DCben and Koeen write, ''light yellowish brown, with a slight violet Inslre.' 



'' Synopsis Piscium, fig. 2. 



' Traite des Peches, part. 2 (toiii. Ill), sect. IX, tab. yi, fig. 6. 



'' Richardson and Couch, 11. cc. 



