LUXURIES IN DISGUISES. 



431 



THE FLATFISH FAMILY. 



Scale of Inches. 



FLATFISH FAMILY. 1. The Turbot, Rhombus maximus. 2. Oblong Flounder, Platessa 

 oblonga. 3. The Plaice, Platessa vulgaris (similar in form to the Rusty Dab of our 

 coasts). 4 The Halibut, Hfypoglossus vulgaris. 5. Common Sole, Solea vulgaris. 



The turbot of Europe is regarded as the aldermanic fish, 

 answering to our sheepshead. Both the sole and turbot are 

 great delicacies, and even luxuries. Boiled sole, served in a 

 napkin on a hot plate, with cauliflower as a vegetable, and 

 fresh drawn-butter, is not easily refused by the most pam- 

 pered epicure. These fishes are generally taken with the 

 hand-line and with the deep-sea casting-net. The meat of 

 the sole is very white, and the taste pure and of delicate fla- 

 vor. It is said to feed in deep waters along chalk cliffs. 



Fishes 2 and 3 are the common flounder and the fluke. The 

 lower jaw of the flounder is on the right side of the head, and 

 that of the fluke on the left side. These are among the first 

 biting fishes of the early spring season in most of the estua- 

 ries on the Atlantic coast. They are excellent fishes, but 

 not sufficiently known or appreciated by epicures. 



Until within the past ten years, it was supposed that nei- 

 ther the turbot nor the sole inhabited waters along the Atlan- 



