SUB-BEACHIAL SOFT-FINNED FISHES. 



341 



the other side is white. The two corners of the 

 mouth are unequal, and it is rare to find both pec- 

 toral fins exactly alike ; the dorsal fin extends along 

 the whole back, the anal fin occupies the lower part 



Fig. 273, — imDEU side op the sole. 



of the body, and the ventral s seem to be continu- 

 ations of it in front, as they are almost united one 

 to another. The principal genera of this family 

 are the noble Turbot and Brill (Rhombus). The 

 valuable Sole (Solea), the gigantic Holibut {Hippo- 

 glossus), the Plaice, the Flounder, and the various 

 species of Dabs and Flukes {Platessa), all of which, 

 in a greater or less degree, are in estimation as 

 human food. Their form is very deep, but at the 

 same time very thin, and they are not constituted 

 to swim as other fishes do, with their back upper- 

 most, but lying on one side. They reside wholly 

 upon the bottom, shuffling along by waving their 

 flattened bodies, fringed with the dorsal and anal 

 fins; and as they are somewhat sluggish in their 

 movements they need concealment from their ene- 

 mies. This is afforded to them by the side which is 

 uppermost being of a dusky brown hue, undistin- 

 guishable from the mud on which they rest ; and so 

 conscious are they where their safely lies, that when 



