32 
anal fin and the adjacent ventral portion of the body. It 
is, of course, impossible to say how this injury occurred, 
but the shape of the notch suggests a bite by some 
carnivorous fish. The injury had probably occurred 
when the fish was much younger. Ilealing has been per- 
fect, for there is no obvious cicatrix, and the pigmenta- 
tion of the ocular side extends round the ventral margin 
on to the blind side. That this perfect healing has 
occurred is remarkable, for this part of the body is fairly 
well supplied with blood-vessels, and bleeding must have 
been copious. Dr. Fulton describes a somewhat similar 
case.* 
The fish is a female, of 15} inches in extreme length. 
It ought to be mature, but the ovaries are small and thin, 
that of the blind side being only 12 inches long. Pro- 
bably the injury had inhibited the maturation of these 
organs. It is interesting that the white haloes round the 
ocelli are not clearly evident in this fish, and this lends 
support to Petersen’s contentiont that these white-edged 
ocelli in the plaice are indicative of the condition of sexual 
maturity. 
* Rept. Fish. Bd., Scotland, No. 21. 
+ Publications de circonstance, No. 1. Cons. Perm. Internat. Explor. 
de la Mer. Copenhague, 1903. 
