[67] FLOUNDERS AND SOLES. 291 
xx. Scales not all cycloid, some of those along lateral line, along the base of 
dorsal and anal and on sides of head and abdomen ciliated, otherwise as in 
the preceding. D. 62 to 66. A. 46 to 48. Light brownish, with yellow 
spots. (Gottsche)-- oon we ee ne +--+ one e oe -- ---- Var. pseudoflesus, 81 (b). 
bb. Snout not projecting, net iormiae a iste angle above eye ; tubercles on ridge 
above opercle at base of lateral line, coarser than in Pl. platessa, and 
about five in number; a small tubercle behind upper eye ; scales small, cy- 
cloid in all specimens examined. Head, 33; depth, 2. D.68. A.50. Lat. 
1.78. Color, grayish, mottled with paler and with round black spots; fins 
UI Beis eyed bo Pace eng We Sa EAE Se eats sk QUADRITUBERCULATA, 82. 
aa. Teeth in jaws small, conical, well-separated, not forming a continuous cutting 
edge; a stellate scale or tubercle at the base of each ray of dorsal and anal; 
lower pharyngeals rather narrow, each with four or five rows of teeth. 
(Flesus Moreau. ) 
e. Body oblong-elliptical, a small angle above eye. Head, 3} in length; depth, 
24; vertebra 12 +- 24=36.....-.--..------+-----------------. FLESUS, 83, 
y. Sides of head and anterior portion of lateral line with coarse stellate scales 
or tubercles ; smaller ones.on sides of abdomen, the scales otherwise cycloid} 
granular ridge above opercle usually without tubercles. D. 60 to 62. A. 
39 to 45. Color brownish, irregularly mottled, the blind side rarely spotted 
with darker -..-.....--.---.--------------------------. Var. flesus, 83 (a). 
yy. Sides of head and lateral line nearly or quite destitute of tubercles, the 
scales all cycloid except those at the bases of the fin-rays and a few about 
the eyes ; ridge above opercle usually with one or two rugose prominences. 
D. 62 to 64. A. 41 to 48. Color, dark-brown, often marbled with darker, 
the blind side usually with irregular dark spots........ Var. glabra, 83 (b). 
81. PLATESSA PLATESSA. 
(THE PLAICE. ) 
[Plate XV.] 
a. Var. platessa. 
Pleuronectes No. 1, Artedi, Genera, etc. d 
Pleuronectes platessa Linneus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, 1758, 269 (after Artedi) (and of the 
early copyists). Giinther, iv, 440 (Firth of Forth; Brighton; Bohusliin), 
Day, Fish. Great Britain, ii, 25, pl. ci (and of recent writers generally), 
Scophthalmus diurus Rafinesque, Indice di Ittiologia Siciliana, 1810, 53 (based on the 
Quarrelet of Rondelet). 
Platessa vulgaris Fleming, British Anim., 198, 1828 (and of numerous authors). 
_ Pleuronectes latus Cuvier, Régne Animal, ed. ii, 1828 (deformed example, France). 
Pieuronectes borealis ‘‘ Faber, Isis, 1828, 863” (Iceland). 
b. Var. pseudoflesus (variety ?). 
Platessa pseudoflesus Gottsche, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1835, 143 (German Ocean). 
Pleuronectes pseudoflesus Giinther, iv, 441 (copied). 
Habitat—Coasts of northern Europe, south to Italy. 
This is one of the most common of the flat-fishes of Europe, and is, 
next to the halibut and the turbot, the one of most importance as a food- 
fish. It reaches usually a weight of five or six pounds, although speci- 
