XKW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



small fishes when they are congregated in schools. I have seen 

 large individuals cautiously wriggling their way upward in the 

 concealment of a wharf pile till within easy reach of a shoal 

 of silversides, when a sudden dart into the midst of the school 

 would result in the capture of a fish, and the flounder would 

 leisurely sink to digest its victim and prepare for another 

 onslaught. It has been know^n to reach a weight of 26 pounds. 

 Dr Goode has seen individuals measuring 3 feet in length. The 

 fish is caught largely in weirs and traps. It is probable that 

 more of them are taken in Vineyard sound and in Rhode Island 

 waters than on any other parts of our coast. The fishing season 

 extends from May to October. They are carried alive in well- 

 smacks to the markets. Menhaden is the bait principally used 

 for the capture of the fluke by hook and line. 



361 Paralichthys lethostigmus Jordau & Gilbert 

 Southern Flounder 



J'hihssa ohIoiKja De Kay, N.Y. Fauna, Fishes, 299, pi. 48, fig. 156, 1842, Xew 



York, not Pleuronectes ohJongus Mitchill. 

 I'firdlichthys dentatus Jordan & Gilbert, Bull 16 U S Nat Mus S'>2 



188.3. . - . 



rarnlichthijs Icthostigma Jordan & Gilbert, Pi-qc U S Nat Mus "37 

 1884. 



PnraUrhthys hiJiostigmus Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47 U S Nat ^NIus 

 III, 2G30, 1898. 



Body ovate, its depth contained two and one third times in its 

 total length without the caudal; length of head about three and 

 ""' lialf times in same length; depth of caudal peduncle con- 

 lain.Ml Iwo nn.l one third times in length of head; eyes of mod- 

 -rate siz.-. i.lnccl rlose together on the left side of the head; 

 '"^^"<1' ';"?:'. jaws curved; maxilla reaching past vertical 

 'l'i"n-li ..ye; mandible projecting; anterior teeth of jaws 

 str.Mig: posterior small aud close set; gill rakers 2+10. lanceo- 

 l='t'-. wi.h. s,>t. shorter than eye; scales smooth, small; dorsal 

 'n;:inat,-.s in front of eye and continues almost to caudal; anal 

 ".11 separat.-d from the ventrals; pectorals short, less than 

 "" l' = ilf Iw.^Mli of head; ventral moderately developed, about 

 'w,. iliinls h.ii-lh ..f pectoral. I). <)0; A. 70; V. 6. 



'.'olor du.sky olive, with a f.-w darker mottl'ings and spots. 



