170 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[TUHBOT. 



these flat-fish, u it is called, is dark coloured, the 

 under surface white. Now these are reaJly the two 

 sides of the fish, and not the back and abdomen ; 

 the back is in roality the ridge extending from the 

 upper jaw to the tail, alon? which runs one exten- 

 sive dorsal fin. The abdominal cavity is small and 

 posterior to the cilU, and on it are placed the two 

 ventral fins (see Fig. 2481, the Dab) ; the pectoral 

 fins arc placed one behind the gill-cover, the other 

 on the opposite side, and it is seldom that these 

 two are equal ; the pectoral fin below runs from 

 behind the posterior fins to the tail, and is nearly 

 equal in extent to the doi-sal tin. With respect to 

 the head, it is as if it had been wrenched round, 

 and crushed flat, the bones all distorted, the two 

 eyes both brought to one side, and the mouth 

 twisted in the same direction. Cuvier says the 

 osseous structure of the head is curious from this 

 distortion (renversement), which brings the two 

 orbits to the same side ; nevertheless we find in it 

 the parts common to the skull of other fishes, but 

 ■unequally developed. Such, then, are these flat- 

 fishes, which belong to the subbrachial malacoptery- 

 gians, and their habits harmonize with their external 

 contour. They have no air-vessels, and they tenant 

 the bottom of the water, lying flat on the white 

 side, on the muddy or sandy bed ; while from the 

 position of the eyes they are enabled to gaze above 

 and around, watching for prey, or marking the 

 actions of their foes. While the dark colour of the 

 side uppermost, blendinu; with that of the bed on 

 which they .lie, tends to their concealment. In 

 general ihey swim slowly and with a slightly un- 

 dulating motion, maintaining the dark side upper- 

 most ; and seldom rise to any elevation above the 

 bed of the water; but when "alarmed or disturbed 

 they suddenly assume a vertical position, and dart 

 along like a flash, showing for a moment the white 

 under-side, but soon re-assume their previous pos- 

 ture, continue to undulate along, and ultimately 

 settle quietly on the muddy bed. We once saw a 

 beautiful exhibition of this kind while crossing the 

 Severn near Bewdley in a flat-bottomed boat. In 

 the clear water below, we beheld a large shoal of 

 flounders pursuing their course ; they looked like 

 an army of rats running along the bed of the river : 

 on a long pole being struck down among them, 

 with a sudden simultaneous movement they assumed 

 a vertical position, darted forwards, and passed out 

 of sight. The flat-fishes are very tenacious of life ; 

 of most the flesh is in high estimation for the table, 

 •the turbot, indeed, holds a pre-eminent place in the 

 opinion of epicures. Mr. Yarrell observes that 

 the number of species diminishes as the degrees of 

 northern latitude increase : " In this country we have 

 sixteen species ; at the parallel of Jutland, Denmark, 

 and the islands at the mouth of the Baltic, there 

 are thirteen ; on the coast of Norway tliey are re- 

 duced to ten species ; at Iceland the number is but 

 five, and at Greenland only three." 



2481.— The Dab 



(Platessa Limanda). In the genus Platessa the 

 eyes are on the right side, which is the dark one. 

 There is a row of teeth in each jaw, with others 

 on the pharyngeal bones ; branchiostegous rays six. 

 In our figure, which the artist ought to have 

 reversed on the block, the left side appears as the 

 uppermost or dark coloured ; sometimes, indeed, 

 this is really the case, reversed varieties of the flat- 

 fish (whether the right or the left side be normally 

 the dark) often occurring. 



The Dab or Saltie of the Scotch, is common on 

 all the sandy parts of our coast, and is easily to be 

 distinguished from the plaice and flounder, with 

 which it is commonly caught, by the roughness of 

 its scaly upper side, whence the term Limanda, from 

 Uma, a file. The flesh of this fish is good, and 

 Cuvier says that the dab (la Limande), though small, 

 is more esteemed in Paris than the plaice (la Plie), 

 because it bears carriage better. In the London 

 markets it is very abundant, and also in those "of 

 Edinburgh. 



The breeding season of this species is in May or 

 June. It is caught both by nets and lines; small 

 fish, mollusks, and minute Crustacea constitute its 

 food. 



The dab measures on an average from eight to 

 ten inches in length; the lateral line Ibruis aiiiirch 

 over the pectoral fin ; the colour of the upper side 

 is of a uniform pale brown ; of the under side 

 white. 



2482. — The Flounder 



(Platessa Flesus). Flook, Fluke, or Fleuke ; Mayock 

 Fleuke, Edinburgh; Butt, Yarmouth. 



The flounder, though really a sea-fish, and ex- 

 tremely common around our coast, where a soft 

 muddy or sandy bed prevails, ascends the rivers, 

 and thrives alike in saline, brackish, or fresh water. 

 It is abundant in the Thames as high as Teddington, 

 and is caught in great numbers, from Deptford to 

 Richmond, by the fishermen, for sale : the mode of 



fishing for it is by a tuck-net, one end of which is 

 fixed to a grapple ; the boat is then sculled by an 

 assistant so as to describe a circle, while the fisher- 

 man hands out the net gradually into the water; 

 when the circle is completed, and the space en- 

 closed, the net is hauled in, near the starting-point, 

 the fish extricated, and put into the well of the 

 boat, and the net again cast as before. The flounder 

 will live in fresh-water ponds, though most probably 

 it will not breed there, unless they be of consider- 

 able extent, but we are not aware to what degree 

 experiments on this point have been carried. As 

 the flounder lives long out of water, its transporta- 

 tion from place to place is effected with but little 

 difficulty. 



We have seen this fish in the Severn ; and Colonel 

 Montagu notices it as being found up the Avon, 

 within three miles of Bath. Along our southern 

 coast, and about Margate and Ramsgate, shoals of 

 flounders abound, and also along the shores of the 

 adjacent continent, where other species of flat-fish 

 are very common. 



The flounder feeds on small Crustacea, worms, 

 insects and small fishes. Mr. Jesse states that he 

 has seen it pursue minnows with great eagerness 

 in the shallows where the Mole runs into the 

 Thames at Hampton Court. It breeds in February 

 or March. The flounders we commonly see in the 

 fishmongers' shops are of small size ; Mr. Yarrell 

 says that some have been known to acquire the 

 weight of four pounds, but such instances are rare, j 

 The flesh is agreeable and delicate. | 



Cuvier observes that reversed individuals (tour- 

 nds en sens contraire) are very frequent ; and Mr. 

 Yarrell says "Varieties of the flounder occur more 

 commonly than those of any other species of flat-fish. 

 I have before me, while now writing, specimens with- 

 out any colour on either side ; specimens with colour 

 on both sides ; and specimens with eyes and the 

 whole of the colour on the left side, instead of the 

 right. Those without any colour on either side are 

 albino varieties, through the transparent skins of 

 which of the colour of the blood-vessels and muscles 

 has suggested the names of rosea and carnaria to the 

 authors who considered them species. The PI. passer, 

 figured by Bloch, pt. ii., pi. 50, is certainly only a 

 reversed flounder having the eyes and colour on the 

 left side — a variety so common, that it is scarcely 

 possible to examine a peck measure of flounders 

 without finding one or more reversed specimens. 



One of the most remarkable specific distinctions of 

 the flounder, viz., the series of denticulated tubercles 

 placed between the rays of the fins along the 

 dorsal and abdominal lines, is distinctly figured on 

 both Bloch's plates, pi. 44 and 50. 



We may here observe that those groups of flat- 

 fish which have as a rule the right side dark, are 

 termed dextral ; those which have the left side dark, 

 as the turbot, sinistral. 



The flounder is subject to great variations of 

 colour, and those taken from spots where there is a 

 considerable deposit of mud are far darker than 

 those which inhabit sandy places. The flounders 

 for example caught in the backwaters behind 

 Yarmouth, on a bed of mud, are so dark that they 

 are distinguished by the name of Black Butts. 

 Generally, however, the upper side is of an olive 

 grey or brownish olive tint, mottled with irregular 

 dusky spots and marblings ; the fins are paler tlian 

 the body. 



The other species of the genus Platessa, peculiar 

 to the shores of our island and the adjacent parts 

 of the continent, are as follows: — The Plaice (PI. 

 vulgaris), of which a variety distinguished by the 

 clearness of the brown colour above, and the rich- 

 ness of the red spots, is taken off the coast of Sus- 

 sex, on a particular fishing-station called the Dia- 

 mond ground ; the Lemon Dab or Smooth Dab (PI. 

 microcephalus), also called Town Dab and Smear 

 Dab, taken along the Sussex coast ; the Long Rough 

 Dab (PI. limandoides), a recent addition to our 

 British fishes, and taken occasionally on the Sussex 

 coast ; the Pole or Craig Fluke (PI. Pola), of rare 

 occurrence, and approaching a sole in figure ; it 

 would seem to be more common on the coast of 

 France, where, Cuvier says, it is esteemed equal to 

 the sole. 



Fig. 2483 represents a fishing-boat on one of the 

 fishing-stations off Havre de Grace, with Cape La 

 HSve in the distance. 



2484.— The Turbot 



{Rhombus maximus). In this genus the colour and 

 eyes are on the left side; teeth in the jaws and 

 pharynx. In our figures, both of the turbot and 

 brill, the artist has neglected to reverse his drawing 

 so as to bring the fish correct in the impression ; 

 consequently they present the right side coloured, 

 instead of the lelt. Reversed turbofs, and also 

 turbots coloured on both sides, are occasionally seen 

 in the markets. 



From the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans 

 to the present, the turbot has been celebrated as 



one of the luxuries of the table, and is often seen of 

 extraordinary weight and dimensions. The ordi- 

 nary weight of this fish is generally from five to ten 

 pounds, but instances are not unfrequent in which 

 it is found to weigh filleen or twenty, and even 

 thirty pounds. Mr. Crouch, says Mr. Yarrell, " no- 

 tices in his MS. a record of one taken in 1730, at 

 Cawsand near Plymouth, which weighed seventy 

 pounds. On the 18th of February, 1832, a turbot 

 was caught at Staiths near Whitby, which weighed 

 one hundred and ninety pounds, and measured six 

 leet across. Rondelctius, however, states that he 

 had seen a turbot five cubits in length, four in 

 breadth, and a foot in thickness." It must have 

 been such a turbot which was taken during the 

 reign of Domitian, and which not only puzzled his 

 cooks, but even the senatoi's of Rome, called 

 together by command, in order .to devise the best 

 mode of bringing it to table. 



The turbot is taken on nearly all the coasts of our 

 island, and is found from Scotland to Cornwall. In 

 Ireland it is principally confined to the south- 

 western coast. Like most other fishes, the turbot 

 has its favourite haunts, where it is found in greater 

 abundance and perfection than in other places. 

 The sandbanks between Dover and the French coast, 

 and those between the English and Dutch coast, 

 which extend in a parallel line to the eastern shores 

 of Great Britain, are the most valuable fishing- 

 grounds. The coast extending from the North 

 Foreland to the Land's End also abounds with this 

 esteemed fish. On the Flemish banks the finest 

 turbots are taken in abundance by the Dutch fisher- 

 men for the London market, llie fishing begins 

 towards the end of March, and the fishermen then 

 " assemble a few leagues to the south of Scheveling ; 

 as the warm weather comes on, the fish advance to 

 the northward, and during the months of April and 

 May they are found in great shoals on the banks 

 called the Broad Forties. Eariy in June they have 

 proceeded to the banks which surround the small 

 island of Heligoland, off the mouth of the Elbe, 

 where the fishery continues to the middle of August 

 (the spawning season), when it terminates for that 

 year." 



A preference is given in London to the Dutch 

 turbot, which it deserves to some extent. The flesh 

 on the dark-coloured side is considered as the best, 

 and the Dutch turbot are of a darker hue than those 

 obtained on some parts of our own coast ; but 

 those taken on the north-eastern coast of Eng- 

 land are equal to the Dutch in this respect, while 

 those which the south-western coast produces are 

 lighter. Mr. Barrow says that the Dutch draw about 

 80,000/. a-year for the supply of the London market 

 with turbot ; and by Mr. "Yarrell it is stated that 

 one fourth of the w'nole quantity of turbot brought 

 to Billingsgate is supplied by the Dutch. A large 

 number of turbot are bought at sea of the Dutch 

 fishermen, and brought to London. The French 

 fishermen also sell many at sea to English fisher- 

 men. They lay their long lines on the Varne and 

 Ridge, two extensive banks of sand between Dover 

 and the French coast, and often take considerable 

 numbers. When the Dutch fishermen come into 

 our market, they pay for each boat a duty of «. 

 Each boat brings from one hundred to one hundred 

 and fifty turbots. Bath and Exeter are the two 

 great markets for the sale of turbot caught on the 

 western coast, but even a portion of the supply from 

 this quarter is brought to London by land carriage. 

 The number of turbot sold at Billingsgate market is 

 believed to be about one hundred thousand a-year. 

 Nevertheless these fish always bear a high price ; 

 and occasionally, when the supply is small, prices 

 rise to an extravagant height. The fishmongers 

 at the west end of London take off by far the 

 greatest bulk of each day's arrivals. 



The Dutch adopt two methods of turbot-fishing : 

 when the fish are on a smooth sandy bottom in 

 shallow water, they use the haul-net, which brings 

 up other kinds of flat-fish, as soles, plaice, &c., with 

 the turbot ; but when the weather becomes warm, 

 and the fish have retired to deeper water, with rough' 

 and broken banks at the bottom, they have recourse 

 to long many-hooked lines, baited with smelts, gar- 

 fish, &c. Formerly the Dutch purchased of the 

 Thames fishermen quantities of the river lam pern as 

 a bait, often to the amount of 700/. per annum. 

 The silvery colour of this fish, its vitality, and con- 

 sequent power of enduring mutilation without loss 

 of life, were its great recommendations. 



The turbot is indeed a dainty feeder ; and though 

 very voracious, it is not every bait that will tempt 

 him ; if it be not very fresh, he refuses it, but if 

 bright coloured and living, it immediately attracts 

 his notice. 



According to Mr. Crouch, " The turbot keeps in 

 sandy ground, and is a great wanderer, usually in 

 companies ;" and he adds, " though its proper ha- 

 bitation is close to the bottom, it sometimes mounts 

 aloft, and I have known it upon the surface over a 

 depth of thirty fathoms. I have been informed also 



