18 



were Solea lutea and only one of them was a true sole 

 (So lea vulgaris J." 



It may be of service in helping others to distinguish 

 solenettes from half grown soles, if I give here the chief 

 distinguishing features of the two species. Good figures 

 of them will be found in Day's "British Fishes," Pis. CVI 

 and CVIII, and in Cunningham's " Monograph on the 

 Sole," Pis. I— VII. 



(1.) On the under side of the snout in Solea vulgaris 

 the villi or little white tags are closely crowded together 

 and irregular in arrangement, while in Solea lutea (solen- 

 ette) the villi form fringes round the edges of quadrangular 

 depressions of the skin, and so give rise to a reticulate 

 pattern. 



(2.) The general colour is darker in S. vulgaris, more of 

 a reddish brown in S. lutea ; moreover in the latter the 

 dorsal and anal fins are marked transversely by numerous 

 narrow dark stripes, which are not present in the common 

 sole. These stripes are caused by every 6th or 7th fin-ray 

 being of a deep black colour, and this series of narrow 

 bars across the fins is on the whole the most readily 

 noticed reliable character by which the two species can be 

 distinguished in this neighbourhood. 



(3.) In S. vulgaris the dorsal fin has from 83 to 90 rays, 

 the anal fin has from 66 to 74, and the scales of the lateral 

 line are from 149 to 166 in number. In S. lutea the dorsal 

 fin has from 69 to 77 rays, the anal fin has from 53 to 63, 

 and the scales of the lateral line are from 62 to 68 in 

 number. These characters hold good for immature fishes 

 as well as adults. 



(4.) In S. vulgaris the scales from any where about the 

 middle of the body have from 10 to 16 radiating spines on 

 their posterior border, while in S. lutea a scale from the 

 same region has from 16 to 22 radiating spines (PI. IV.). 



