[21] FLOUNDERS AND SOLES. 245 



2\ in head (as long as pectoral) ; teeth rather small; arch of lateral 

 line a little longer than high, its length 5-, 1 ,, in the straight part ; gill- 

 rakers 3+11, shorter and thicker than in P. brasiliensis, the longest 

 ahout half eye ; color brown, the body and fins irregularly blotched 

 and with obscure ocelli; pectorals barred; eyes speckled. 



Patagonicus, 19. 



dd. Body oblong, strongly compressed, semi- translucent ; scales weakly cili- 

 ated ; about 93 pores in lateral line ; curve of lateral line about 3$ 

 times in straight part; mouth large, oblique; maxillary narrow, its 

 length 2i in head ; interorbital area a very narrow, bony, scaleless 

 ridge; head 3| to 4 in length; depth 2i; gill-rakers 2+8 in number, 

 about half as long as eye; D. 77, A. 62; coloration light grayish, 

 thickly mottled with darker ; four large horizontally oblong, black 

 ocelli, each surrounded by a pinkish area; one just behind middle of 

 the body, below the dorsal ; one opposite this, above anal ; two similar 

 smaller spots below last rays of dorsal and above last of anal ; verte- 

 bras, 11+30=41 OBLONGUS.20. 



12. PARALICHTHYS CALIFORNICUS. 



(Bastard Halibut; Monterey Halibut.) 



Pleuroneciesmaculosus Girard, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1854, 155 ^young, San Diego). 



Paralichthys maculosus Girard, U. S. Pacif. E. E. Exped., Fishes, p. 147, 1859 (not 

 Rhombus maculosus Cuvier, alsoa speciesof Paralichthys). Giinther. Cat. Fish., 

 iv, 431, 1862 (copied). Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1864, p. 197. Lock- 

 ington, Eep. Com. Fisheries, California, 1878-79, p. 41 (Monterey; Tomales 

 Bay). Lockingtou, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1879, p. 79 (San Francisco). Jor- 

 dan and Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1880, 454. (San Francisco, Monterey 

 Bay, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, San Diego.) Jordan and 

 Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881, 66 (Tomales Bay; Monterey; San Diego). 

 Jordan, Nat. His. Aquat. Anim., 1884, 182. 



Hippoglossus californicus Ayres, Proc. Cal. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1859, p. 29, and 1860, fig. 

 10 (adult, San Francisco). 



Pseudorhombus californicus Giinther, Cat. Fish., iv, 426,1862 (copied). 

 Uropsetta californica Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1862, 330. Gill, Proc. Acad. 

 Nat. Sci. Phila., 1864, 198. 



Paralichthys californicus Jordan and Gilbert, Syn. Fish. N. A. 1882, 821. 



Habitat. — Coast of California ; Tomales Bay to San Diego.. 



This large flounder is one of the common food-fishes of the Pacific coast, 

 where it takes the place occupied on the Atlantic side by Paralichthys 

 dentatus. It reaches a length of three feet and a weight of sixty 

 pounds. From its resemblance to the halibut, it usually goes by 

 the name of bastard halibut. It is readily distinguished from the At- 

 lantic members of the same genus by its fewer fin-rays and by its more 

 numerous gill-rakers. 



The specific name californicus must be used for this fish, the earlier 

 name, maculosus, being preoccupied in the genus Paralichthys. As was 

 first shown by Mr. Lockiugton, the small fish, called Paralichthys macu- 

 losus, is simply the young of the larger fish, then called Uropsetta cal- 

 ifornica. Unlike other species of the genus, Paralichthys californicus 

 is almost as frequently dextral as sinistral. 



