208 WAITE 
the under side of the fish, which is yellowish olive, each scale 
edged with brown and suffusing the whole: the fins, the pectoral 
included, are almost as darkly coloured as on the upper side; in 
some specimens this colour is replaced with red. 
Length.—314 mm. 
This species was not taken by the trawler, but is included 
here for comparison with the other members of the genus, which 
as before stated, have been very vaguely described. I owe the 
specimens examined to Messrs. D. Hope and W. Cobeldick, 
Rangers for the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, who have 
also kindly supplied me with the following information :— 
This is regarded as a fresh-water flounder, and is also taken 
near the mouths of rivers, the chief source of supply in Canter- 
bury being Lake Ellesmere, the fishes being caught where the 
rivers enter the lake, chiefly among the weeds. Here it is con- 
sidered to be a winter fish, being very rarely obtained during 
the warmer months of the year, but the fishermen profess no 
idea as to where it migrates. The two specimens originally 
described were taken in the harbours of Wellington and the 
Bluff. Writing under the name Rhombosolea monopus 
(Rk. plebeia) Hutton?* remarks: ‘‘A small flatfish, also called 
Patiki by the Maoris, is found in some of the rivers; it is brown, 
with red blotches on the upper side. I do not know whether it 
is identical with this species or not.’’ This distinctly refers to 
the Black Flounder, which the Maoris on Banks Peninsula 
always speak of as ‘‘Patiki.’’ 
Once its characteristics are discerned this fish is readily dis- 
tinguishable, its contour and the character of its snout well mark 
it as distinct from the Sand and the Greenback Flounders 
respectively, while the red spots on the body and the dark under 
side also serve to distinguish it from the Yellowbelly, it differs 
from the latter structurally, by its more rounded contour, 
blunter head, shorter snout, and smaller mouth and eyes. 
It attains a length of 1714 inches (= 445 mm.), and a weight 
of 5 pounds, and as specimens of this size are, according to Mr. 
Cobeldick, 3 inches in thickness (— 76 mm.), the fish 
is a very fleshy one. 
Owing to the enormous number of eels occurring in the lake, 
the flounders obtained are very commonly mutilated, a certain 
proportion having suffered the loss of portions of their fins and 
tails, while some exhibit much more extensive wounds. 
(24) Hutton, Cat. Fish N.Z., 1872, p. 52. 
