400 MODERN SEA FISHING 



through the forehead bone in its course. This remarkable 

 change occurs when the fish is very young and the bones are 

 soft and cartilaginous. All that the unscientific person will 

 observe is that the eye on the under side gradually becomes 

 depressed, while a round and dark spot appears on the upper side 

 of the fish in the place where the eye is destined to break through. 

 Gradually the spot above develops into an eye, and the eye 

 underneath totally disappears. Professor Alexander Agassiz, 

 writing in 1879, appeared to think that the eye was transferred 

 either by translation or rotation ; that is to say, in some in- 

 stances the travelling eye would go round the head by the snout, 

 while in others it appeared to pass right through the tissues of 

 the head. 



Another curious fact about flat fish is that some have their 

 pair of eyes on the right side, while others have them on the 

 left. But even among those species which I may term ' right- 

 eyed ' the left side is occasionally chosen to simulate the back 

 of the fish. Those rare examples which are coloured on both 

 sides are sometimes termed ' double fish,' and these, by the way, 

 swim in a vertical position which explains their colouring 

 and more often leave the bottom of the sea than do the rest. 

 Occasionally flat fish are found which are white on both sides. 



The principal flat fish possessing the remarkable peculi- 

 arities ' described belong to the family called Pleuronectida, 

 which includes the halibut, turbot, brill, sole, plaice, flounder, 

 dab, and solonette. Of these, the dab, plaice and flounder are 

 undoubtedly the most important from a sportsman's point of 

 view, while the turbot, brill, and sole appeal more to the gourmet. 

 Let each now be more particularly described. First, then, 



The HALIBUT (Hippoglossus vulgaris) is the largest, British, 

 side-swimming, flat fish. It is often called turbot in Scotland, 

 old or very dark halibut going by the name of blacksmiths on 

 the East coast. Another pseudonym is workhouse turbot. In 



