196 NORTH SEA INVESTIGATIONS. 
nearly all females, a point worthy of note in this connection, The 
number of fin-rays, however, presented some approach to the formula 
given by Gottsche, but the variation was in excess of that therein 
indicated, since some of the specimens had as many rays as a typical 
North Sea plaice. 
Two other consignments of small Baltic plaice were received at 
Grimsby a little later, and I again examined a number of specimens. 
In one consignment I found a single fish with very well-marked cilia- 
tion, but the rest of those which I handled appeared in the somewhat 
dim light of the fish market to be quite smooth. In the third con- 
signment a box proved to contain nearly equal numbers of ciliate 
and smooth examples. The ciliation was present in different degrees, 
so that there was an absolute continuity in the series from the 
perfectly smooth to the fully ciliate condition. 
In those examples in which the ciliation is most strongly marked, 
the scales on the head and interspinous regions of the ocular side 
have the free margin produced into from two to four distinct spines, 
which are outwardly directed, so as to project vertically to the sur- 
face of the body. The scales of the median region of the body are 
only feebly or not at all ciliate, the spines when present being more 
numerous than those in the regions previously referred to, but much 
smaller and not outwardly directed. The scales on the ocular sides 
of the fin-rays are also feebly ciliate. 
On the blind side the ciliation is much less marked, and is alto- 
gether absent from the scales on the prominent parts. The scales 
on both sides exhibit a certain degree of imbrication, but not more 
than may be observed in young examples of ordinary North Sea 
plaice, the non-imbrication of the scales in this species being a cha- 
racter only entirely applicable, at best, to large examples. 
The proportions of the small Baltic fish, whether ciliate or smooth, 
are of no service in distinguishing them from ordinary plaice, but 
some of the ciliate examples are rather strikingly coloured. 
The following notes were taken from the fresh condition :—Ocular 
side reddish brown, with a number of orange spots. Of these the 
larger are irregular in shape, and surrounded by a narrow pale 
“halo,” while each scale in the orange part is outlined with dark 
brown. ‘The largest spot, in an individual 10 inches long, measured 
zz by } inch. These spots occur chiefly on the dorsal half of the 
body, viz. along the interneural ridge, and dorsal to the lateral line. 
The smaller orange spots are also most numerous on the dorsal half. 
A number of dark brown or blackish spots, some interspersed with a 
little orange, occur chiefly on the ventral half. Rows of large 
blackish patches, some with an orange centre, occur along the dorsal 
and anal fins, and some small dark markings are present on the 
