SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 389 



above dark olive mottled with numerous pale spots; 3 dark spots edged with white sometimes 

 present on posterior part of lateral line, and 2 others on either side of anterior end of straight 

 part of lateral line, (cdbiguttus, white-spotted.) 



This fish, which at Beaufort shares with other species of ParaUchthys the 

 name of "flounder", is common on the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It 

 reaches a length of 1.5 feet or more, and is used for food, but no definite informa- 

 tion about its economic value is at hand, as it is not distinguished from the 

 related species. The fish is common at Beaufort, and numbers have been 

 taken in summer in the laboratory seines at Bird Shoal and Cape Lookout. 

 Specimens examined by Professor Linton in July and August had been feeding 

 on fish, shrimp and other small crustaceans, mollusks, and worms. On April 23, 

 1904, the writer collected numerous 2-inch specimens on the beach at Fort Macon. 



Genus ANCYLOPSETTA Gill. Four-spotted Flounders. 



This genus is characterized by having a very broad, sinistral body, both 

 sides of which are covered with strongly ctenoid scales; very oblique mouth with 

 uniserial jaw teeth; a very short caudal peduncle; short, broad gill-rakers, with 

 rough teeth; an elongated left ventral fin; and dorsal fin with anterior rays pro- 

 duced and directed forward. One species. (Ancylopsetta, hooked turbot.) 



335. ANCYLOPSETTA QUADROOELLATA GiU. 

 Four-spotted Flounder; Fluke. 



Ancylopsetta quadrocellata Gill, Proceedings Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1864, 224; Pensacola. 



Jordan, 1886, 29; Beaufort. Jenkins, 1887, 93; Beaufort. Jordan & Evermann, 1898, 2634, pi. 



ccclxxv, fig. 925. 

 Pseudorhombus quadrocellatus, Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 370; Beaufort. 

 Chcenopsetta oblonga. Yarrow, 1877, 203; Beaufort. 



Diagnosis. — Body much compressed, very broad, ovoid, the depth .6 length; head .25 

 length; mouth small, maxillary extending to middle of orbit; teetli small, about 14 on each 

 side of lower jaw; eye equal to snout and .2 head; gill-rakers very short, thick, 8 or 9 in number; 

 curve of lateral line strongly marked, about half length of straight part; scales in lateral series 

 70; dorsal rays 69 to 76, the fin arishig in front of pupil, anterior rays long; anal rays 54 to 58; 

 caudal short and rounded; ventral fin of left side as long as pectoral, .5 length of head. Color: 

 brownish above, with 4 very large ocellated spots, consisting of a dark central mass, a narrow 

 white margin, and a dark area externally; the dark spots often have small white centers; vertical 

 fins reddish-brown, with a few small, round dark and white spots, {quadrocellata, four-spotted.) 



The foiir-spotted flounder occurs from North Carolina southward. In 

 North Carolina waters it is apparently not common. Jordan & Gilbert collected 

 2 specimens in Beaufort Harbor, and Jenkins reported it as uncommon there. 

 The laboratory contains a large specimen collected by Mr. S. G. Worth at Cape 

 Lookout, March 12, 1904; it is 11.25 inches long over all or 9.25 inches to base of 

 tail, and is the one on which the foregoing diagnosis is based. In smaller exam- 

 ples (4 to 5 inches long), of which numbers have been collected in June and July 

 in Beauiort Harbor and Bogue Sound, there are on the side many small ocelli, 

 smaller than the eye, and numerous small black spots on head; the fins are 

 mottled with black, and the first dorsal lobe may be quite black. The small 



