198 FISHES. MALACOPTERYGIOUS. Platessa. 



fins not reaching so closely to the tail. D. 68, A. 53, C. 16. According to Mr 

 Hanmer, its flesh is inferior to the sole ; and he adds, it is common in the 

 spring, upon the coast, near Plymouth, 



Gen. XL VIII. PLATESSA. Fluke.— A row of obtuse 

 cutting teeth in each jaw. A spine at the beginning of the 

 anal fin. Tail rounded. 



103. P. vulgaris. Plaise. — Body smooth. A row of six 

 tubercles on the head. 



Passer aureus, Merr. Pin. 187. Stbb. Scot. 24. — Passer Bellonii, Will Ich. 

 96.— Pleuronectes Platessa, Linn. Svst. i. 456. Penn. Brit. Zool. ilL 

 228 — S, Fluke, Dutch Plaise.— Common. 

 Length about a foot. Above olivaceous, with reddish spots; beneath, 

 white. Scales small, impressed, and adherent. Mouth small; lower jaw long- 

 est. D. 72, P. 11, V. 6, A. 54 — Spawns in February. 



104. P. Fksus. Flounder. — Body smooth. A band of 

 small sharp spines on the side line, and at the junction of the 

 dorsal and anal fins with the body. 



Passer niger, Merr. Pin. 187 — Lsevis, Sibb. Scot. 24. — P. fluviatilis. 



Will. Ich. 98. — Pleuronectes linea lateral! aspera, spinulis ad radices 



pinnarum in latere oculato. Artedj, Ich. Desc. 59. — PI. Flesus, Linn. 



Syst. i. 457. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 229.-5', Mayock-fleuk — Common. 



Length about a foot. Colour olivaceous, occasionally marbled with brown, 



sometimes whitish, yellowish, or rosy. Scales very small, adherent. Lateral 



line elevated and denticulated on the head ; and bent over the gills. Mouth 



small. D. 60, P. 12, V. 6, A. 42, C. 18 — This species is more frequently to be 



met with at the mouths of rivers than any of the genus. A sinistral variety 



sometimes occurs. 



105. P. Limanda. Dab. — Scales, with ciliated margins. 



Passer asper, Will. Ich. 97 — Pleuronectes squamis asperis; spina ad 

 anum. Art. Ich. Desc. 58 — Pleur. Limanda, Linn. Syst. i. 457. Penn. 



Brit. Zool. iii. 230 S, Saltie — Common. 



Length seldom reaching to a foot. Colour above brownish, frequently with 

 darker clouds. Scales large. Mouth wide. D. 73,'P. 11, V. 6, A. 63,"C. 15. 

 In season for the table in spring. Spawns in May. 



106. P. microcephalus. — Body oblong. Head small. Mouth 

 diminutive. Lateral hne a little incurvated. 



Smear Dab, Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 230 Pleuronectes microcephalus, Don- 



Brit. Fishes, t. Ixii — Sand-fleuk, Neill., Wern. IMem. i. 537. 

 Length about a foot. Colour above, dusky -brown ; beneath, white. Lips 

 protruded. Scales small, smooth. Lateral line a little incurvated over the 

 pectoral fin. D. 90, P. 7, V. 6, A. 73, C. 17- The Smear-Dab of Pennant ap- 

 pears, from the description, to be similar to the P. microcephalus of Donovan ; 

 but the figiu-e of the former author, differs, in all its characters, from the one 

 given by the latter. It may be stated, that, in the last edition of the British 

 Zoology, the original figure of the Smear-Dab is suppressed ; while a new re- 

 presentation of a fish under the same title is given, which bears little resem- 

 blance to the former, while it makes a near approximation, in the shape of 

 the head, to Donovan's figure. In shape, the original figure of the Smear- 

 Dab in the Brit. Zool. t. Ixi. resembles the Pleuronectes punctatus. 



