[31] FLOUNDERS AND SOLES, 255 
Rhombus would take the place of Bothus as the name of this subgenus. 
Our reasons for considering the Turbot as the type of the genus Pleu- 
ronectes may be briefly stated: 
In the earliest restriction of the Linnean genus, Pleuronectes, in which 
the latter name is retained for one of the subdivisions, the Turbot has 
been retained as the type. We therefore find ourselves compelled to 
transfer the name Plewronectes from the small-mouthed flounders to the 
present group. 
The genus Pleuronectes, as it appears in the tenth edition of the Sys- 
tema Nature, is intended to contain all flat-fishes, 18 of which are 
characterized and named. 
Omitting foreign species, the following table shows the European 
species included by Linneus, and the generic names which have since 
his time been specially based on each of these species : 
EME AS reise ays ain oe a aaa an, stare neha aera) owe eames Hippoglossus Cuvier, 1817. 
MPRA ae 8 Sti a 22 5 oo CEG) Le) ect icin Moai oer Glyptocephalus Gottsche, 1836. 
Platessa..Platessa Cuvier, 1317; Pleuronectes Swainson, 1839; Pleuronectes Bleeker, 1862. 
WBE) 5 cio sen paceuo. cee soaesobeecee sece cond oqobons oo esness Flesus Moreau, 1871. 
I hl? a oe Bog aoe GeOIGEO SEH DES CERH ee Caan oc HOGooSreSe Limanda Gottsche, 1835. 
REE re ert. he yok as Ueno tian aw Seon oes cats saan es eels Solea Quensel, 1806. 
EOE ee eee Pleuronectes Bonaparte, 1846; Citharus Bleeker, 1862; 
Bothus Rafinesque, 1810; Scophthalmus Rafinesque, 1810. 
ESROMNDUS: << ai55, 050%" < Rhombus Cuvier, 1817 (preoccupied). 
IN) Se eee eee ..-- Pleuronectes Ileming, 1828; Psetta Swainson, 1839 , 
Passer Valenciennes, 1855 (preoccupied). 
I STISWIB? =. 2 OR CGE SCENE Ree ey Can See ene eae (An abnormal specimen of Flesus.) 
The first subdivision of the genus Pleuronectes, after the removal of 
the soles, seems to have been that of Cuvier. Cuvier subdivides the 
group into three subgenera, Hippoglossus, Khombus, and Platessa, re- 
taining the name Pleuronectes for the group as a whole, but for none of 
his subdivisions. 
Fleming, next after him, makes use of these subdivisions, but reject- 
ing the name of Rhombus, he distinctly adopts the generic name Pleu- 
ronectes for the *“‘Turbot” group. His genera are, therefore, Pleuronectes 
the “‘ Turbot,” Solea the “Sole,” Platessa the “ Fluke,” and Hippoglossus 
the “Halibut.” Pleuronectes maximus, the “Common Turbot,” is evi- 
dently intended as the type of Pleuronectes, as understood by him. This 
is, So far as we have ascertained, the first restriction of the name Pleu- 
ronectes, to any group of flounders, and if it be so the name Pleuronectes 
must go with the Turbot and its relatives. In that case it would take 
the place of the preoccupied name Rhombus, and of the prior but al- 
most forgotten name of Bothus, uniess we see fit to place the Turbot 
and the Brill in different genera, in which case Bothus should be used 
for the Brill. 
The next restriction seems to be that of Swainson, in 1839, who indi- 
cates Pl. platessa as the type of Pleuronectes. 4 ; 
Next is the restriction made by DeKay, 1842, who again makes the Tur- 
