[79] FLOUNDERS AND SOLES. 303 



//. [Dorsal rays 75 to 7(i; anal rays 59 to 61. Lat. 1. 112 to 118; pectoral fins 

 about 2£ in head ; depth 2£. Head 4 J in length ; color brown, with numer- 

 ous obscure dusky cloudings ; pectoral with a black ocellus in tbe middle 

 of its posterior half. 1 (Steiudachner : Giinther) Theophila, 98. 



ee. [Scales in lateral line 90 to 95; D. 83 or 84. A. Go. Head 5-J- in length; 

 depth 3. Eye 5 in head, equal to interorbital width; nasal tube of left- 

 side long and much fringed ; lips not fringed ; blind side of head with 

 many fringes ; right pectoral 3 in head. Color grayish, very much mottled 

 and spotted on body and fins; base of caudal dark; pectoral black, edged 

 with paler.] (Kner) Variolosa, 99. 



92. SOLEA SOLE A. 



(The Common Sole.) 

 [Plates XX and XXL] 



Pleuronectes solea Linnams, Systema Naturae, ed. s, 1758, 270 (and of the earlier 

 copyists). 



Solea vulgaris Quensel, Vet. Akad. Haudl., 180G, 230, and of nearly all later writers. 



Solea biiglossa Rafiuesque, Indice, 1810, 45. 



Solea cincrea Guichenot, Explor. Alger., Poiss., 1850, 106 (plain brown variety). 



Solea angulosa Kaup, Wiegmann's Archiv, 1858,95. (Algiers; Rochelle) (= P.angu- 

 lata, MSS. Paris Museum.) 



Solea azevia Capello, Jonrn. Acad. Sci., Lisboa, i, 1867, 16G, fig. 2 (plain brown va- 

 riety). 



Solea vulgaris var. azevia Steiudachner, Ichtbyol. Berichte, vi, 1«68, 54, with plate. 



Solea linncei Malm, Bohusliins Fauna, 532 (about 1860). 



Habitat — All coasts of Europe, except tbe extreme north. 



This species is the famous sole of Europe, one of the most prized of 

 all food-fishes. It abounds on almost all coasts of central and southern 

 Europe, preferring sandy or gravelly shores, and it is usually captured, 

 according to Dr. Day, with the trawl. It usually reaches a length of 

 12 to 18 inches. 



No specimens of the European sole have yet been taken on the 

 American coasts. Several attempts have been made by the United 

 States Fish Commission to introduce the species into our waters, but 

 thus far without evident success. 



The Solea azevia of Capello is considered by Steiudachner to be an 

 unspotted variety of the common sole. The Solea cinerea, scantily de- 

 scribed by Guichenot, seems to be the same form. 



Solea angulosa Kaup is said to have D. 84; A. 71; P. 7; V. 7-6; C. 19; 

 the pectoral as long as the distance from its root to the lower eye. It 

 may be a common sole, with the number of fin-rays slightly increased. 



93. SOLEA CAPELLONIS. 



Solea capellonis Steiudacbner, Ichtbyol. Berichte, vi, 56, 1868 (with plate) (Gibral- 

 tar; Dalmatia). 



Rauitctt. — Mediterranean Sea. 



This species is evidently very closely related to the common sole, of 

 which, it seems to us, it may be a mere local variety, with unusually 



