98 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 
that is, they float loose in the ocean, at the mercy of winds 
and currents, until the free-swimming larval form is hatched. 
The food of the flounder consists of small creatures, such as 
worms, crustaceans, etc. It is a favourite with estuarine 
anglers, biting freely at a bait of worm or soft crab. Its 
flesh is palatable and nutritious, but of rather watery flavour. 
It is of the kind which profits greatly from the offices of a 
good cook. Living as I do on the shores of the Bay of 
Luce, I used to cherish the belief that the flounders of that 
fair gulf were superior to any others. It is true that the 
flounders served to me were larger, sweeter, and firmer than 
any I encountered in other districts; but the illusion was 
dispelled when I found that the Luce Bay flounders were 
really plaice, locally known as flounders, while the term 
“fluke” is reserved in that district for the flounder itself. 
In size the flounder rarely exceeds nine inches. 
The sole (Solea vulgaris) and the plaice (Platessa vulgaris) 
both frequent estuaries at times, and it is said that they some- 
times ascend rivers to the extreme limit of the tide ; but it 
appears to me that to include such essentially marine species 
among our fresh-water fishes is to strain the definition beyond 
what it will justly bear. 
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Se 
