THE FISH OF DORSET. 17 



head parts. It is inferior to turbot or even brill for table. One of 

 about 51bs. was caught by B. Wills in November, 1892, off Stud- 

 land Bay. The eggs of all the British flat fishes are of the buoyant 

 and separate kind. Couch III., p. 149, PI. CLIX. Day II., p. 6, 

 PI. XCIV. 



RHOMBUS MAXIMUS. 



TURBOT. 



This is one of the largest and most highly-valued of flat fish, but on 

 our Dorset coast it is not so common, nor does it seem to attain to so 

 large a size, as in the North Sea. It is mostly taken by the beam 

 trawl and sometimes on long lines, when the bait must be very 

 fresh. The flesh is firm and white, and it is one of the few fish 

 that are not spoilt by boiling. Like all the Pleuronectidae, it 

 begins life swimming on edge with an eye on each side, but by 

 degrees the right eye passes over to the left side of the head and 

 the under or right side becomes white, while the upper or left side 

 is dark, and, in the turbot, studded with bony tubercles. W. 

 Thompson mentions one with both sides dark and covered with 

 tubercles, 9|ins. long, 25th May, 1872. Couch III., p. 155, 

 PI. CLXI. Day II., p. 2., PI. XCVI. 



RHOMBUS L.EVIS. 



BRILL. 



This is a much commoner fish on our coast than the turbot, and 

 is neither so large nor so highly valued, as the flesh is neither so 

 firm nor is it so thick. The larger ones may be boiled, but the 

 smaller ones should be fried either whole or in fillets. It is nearly 

 always taken in the trawl or in tuck-nets, and is found on a 

 sandy bottom. It seldom takes the hook. Couch III., p. 161, 

 PI. CLXII. Day II., p. 14, PI. XCVII. 



ZEUGOPTERUS PUNCTATUS. 

 MULLER'S TOPKNOT, OR BLOCH'S TOPKNOT. 

 This small fish seldom exceeds 6 or 7 inches, and seems to 

 frequent softer ground than the brill. I have taken them in 



