PLEURONECTES.] PISCES (OSSEI) MALACOPT. 461 



Not uncommon on some parts of the coast, and occasionally exposed 

 for sale in the London markets. Attains to a very large size. One taken 

 off the Isle of Man in April 1828, is said to have measured seven feet 

 and a half in length, and to have weighed three hundred and twenty 

 pounds*. Said to be very voracious, preying upon other fish, and on 

 Crustacea. Spawns, according to Bloch, in the Spring. Flesh poor, and 

 not much esteemed. In the northern parts of Britain, is called a Turbot. 



GEN. 56. PLEURONECTES, Flem. 



148. P. maximus, Linn. (Turbot.) Body rhom- 

 boidal, and nearly as broad as long : the eye-side beset 

 with small, subacute, osseous, tubercles. 



P. maximus, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 459. Block, Ichth. pi. 49. 

 Don. Brit. Fish. vol. n. pi. 46. Flem. Brit. An. p. 196. P. tuher- 

 culatus, Turt. Brit. Faun. p. 97. Rhomhus maximus asper non 

 squamosus, Will. Hist. Pise. p. 94. tah. F. 2. Turbot, Penn. Brit. 

 Zool. vol. m. p. 233. Id. (Edit. 1812.) vol. in. p. 315. pi. 49. Le 

 Turbot, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. 11. p. 341. 



LENGTH. From eighteen inches to two feet ; sometimes more. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) Body rhomboidal, approaching to round : greatest 

 breadth, dorsal and anal fins included, almost equalling the entire length 

 without the caudal : head broad : dorsal curve carried on continuously to 

 the mouth, without any depression before or behind the eyes ; forming 

 with the ventral curve, at the extremity of the snout, a right angle : 

 lower jaw longest, ascending obliquely to meet the upper : both jaws 

 armed with small card-like teeth : eyes on the left side of the head; both 

 equally advanced towards the mouth; a little remote from each other, 

 the intervening space nearly flat : basal and ascending margins of the 

 preopercle meeting at a right angle ; gill-opening large : lateral line com- 

 mencing behind the orbit of the upper eye, forming a considerable arch 

 above the pectoral, but afterwards straight, dividing the body into two 

 equal parts : both sides of the body smooth, but studded with small, sub- 

 acute, osseous, tubercles ; the tubercles on the upper or eye-side larger 

 and more numerous than those on the lower : scales small : dorsal com- 

 mencing in front of the eye, immediately above the upper jaw, and ex- 

 tending very nearly to the caudal ; greatest elevation of the fin about the 

 middle, attained gradually : anal commencing nearly in a line with the 

 posterior lobe of the opercle, and answering to the dorsal : ventrals ap- 

 pearing like a continuation of the anal ; a small space intervening, in 

 which the vent is situate : caudal rounded : number of fin-rays, 



D. 67 ; A. 45 ; C. 17 ; P. 12 ; V. 6. 



(Colours.) Upper side yellowish brown, mottled and spotted with darker 

 brown : under side white. 



Found on many parts of the British coast, in some places, in consider- 

 able abundance. Attains to a larger size than any other species in this 

 family, the Holibut excepted. Weight from fifteen to twenty pounds, 

 sometimes as much as thirty, or even more. Flesh firm, and highly 

 esteemed for the table. Food, according to Bloch, insects and worms. 



* Loudon's Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 84. 



