FISHES — PLEUKONECTIDAE — PLATICHTHYS UMBROSUS, 



149 



anal, but overlap considerably the vent, which is situated nearly midway between the insertion 

 of the ventrals and the origin of the anal. The pectorals are of but moderate development. 

 Br. VII : VII ; D 57 ; A 42 ; C 3, 1, 7, 7, 1, 2 ; V 6 ; P 11. 



The middle rays of the pectorals and those of the caudal are bifurcated once ; in the other fins 

 they are simjjle. The scales are modified into small bony shields with their surface covered 

 with minute prickles very rough to the touch. They are isolated and scattered over the body, 

 and more thickly set together over the head. A row of larger and rougher ones may be observed 

 along the base of the dorsal and anal fin, and very minute ones over the fins. The lateral line 

 from the suprascapular region slightly ascends above the pectorals, passed which it follows a 

 straight course along the middle of the flanks, the peduncle of the tail, and the caudal fin. 

 The dermic productions just alluded to are smaller and less numerous on the right than on the 

 left side, that is, on the side opposite to the one on which the eyes are situated. 



The color on the left side is dark reddish brown, the fins being greyish olive. The dorsal 

 exhibiting five, and the anal four vertical bands of black, the caudal four longitudinal streaks of 

 the same tint, whilst the pectorals and ventrals are unicolor. On the opposite side the body and 

 head are yellow or olive. 



List of specimens. 



2. PLATICHTHYS UMBROSUS, Grd. 



Spec. Char. — Eyes rather large and situated on the riglit side. Interocular space narrow. Peduncle of tail sliort. Origin 

 of dorsal fin corresponding to a line intersecting the anterior rim of the pupil. Scales normal, though some of them are quite 

 rugose. Lateral line conspicuously arched above the pectoral fins. Right side uniform blackish brown ; left side light brown. 

 Dorsal, anal, and caudal fins obsoletely maculated. 



Syn. — Platichthys umbrosus, Gan. in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VllI, 1856, 136. 



The body is sub-elliptical in its outline and very much tapering towards the peduncle of the tail, 

 which is short and somewhat strangulated at the terminus of both the dorsal and the anal 

 fins. The head is moderate sized, constituting nearly the fourth of the entire length, which 

 measures about seven inches and a quarter. The snout is rather short and sub-conical, the 

 gape of the mouth oblique, with the lower jaw slightly projecting beyond the upper. Small 

 and conical teeth may be observed on either side of the jaws, perhaps somewhat more conspicuous 

 on the left than on the right side. The posterior extremity of the maxillary extends to a vertical 

 line drawn midway between the anterior rim of the orbit and that of the pupil. The eyes are 

 proportionally large, elliptical, and placed on the right side and separated from one another by 

 a very narrow interocular bridge. Their longitudinal diameter enters about four times and a 

 half in the length of the side of the hea^, less than once in advance of the orbit. Each nostril 



