550 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 



or a pile-fish, will add greatly to tlie excitement; and if the ' dogs' 

 should be at all plentiful, it is a chance if a single fish be got out of 

 the sea in its integrity. So voracious are these Squalidae, that I have 

 often enough pulled a mere skeleton into the boat, instead of a plump 

 cod of ten or twelve pounds weight." 



The Dab, P. Umanda (Fig. 373), is very common in the markets of 



Paris, where it is held 

 in great esteem. It 

 takes its name Liman- 

 da from the hard and 

 dentate scales on its 

 body. The Platessa 

 have the jaws furnished 

 with a single row of 

 obtuse teeth ; the dorsal 

 fin only extends in front 

 to a line with the eye, 

 leaving an interval 

 between it and the 

 caudal. The form of 

 the body is rhomboi- 

 dal, as in the turbot, 

 and the eyes are 

 usually on the right 

 side. The flounder, 



Fig. 373. The Dab (Platessa limanda). the plaiC6, and the 



dab, are all examples of this group of fishes. 



The Halibut, Hippoglossus vulgaris (Fig. 374), is a large fish, 

 inhabiting the seas of Northern Europe and Greenland, where it is 

 occasionally caught measuring seven feet, and weighing from three 

 to four hundred pounds. A fish of this species was brought to 

 Edinburgh market in April, 1828, measuring seven feet and a half 

 in length and three feet broad, weighing three hundred and twenty 

 pounds. The body of the halibut is more elongated than that of the 

 plaice or flounder, the jaws and pharyngeans being armed with strong 

 and pointed teeth. 



Great quantities of this fish are caught on the Greenland and 

 Norway coasts, and other northern regions. According to Lacepede, 



