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THE FISHES OF THE NORTHERN SEAS 



the Arctic Ocean, while the so-called " father lasher " (C. scorpius) has a nearly 

 similar distribution. A third genus of the family, THglops, is purely Arctic, and 

 a fourth, Bunocottus, is Antarctic. The gurnards themselves are restricted to 

 temperate and tropical seas, the two most familiar forms being the grey Trigla 

 gurnardus and the sapphirine T. hirundo. The latter is a brilliantly coloured 

 Mediterranean and north European fish, reddish brown above, reddish golden on 

 the sides, and reddish white below, with large blue pectoral fins. All these fishes 

 possess three free filaments at the base of the pectoral fins, which serve as organs 

 of touch and also for walking on the sea-bottom ; the broad pectorals likewise 

 enabling their owners to spring some distance out of water. 







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TURBOT. 



Flying Gurnards. 



Dories. 



In the flying gurnards (Dactylopterus), which belong to another 

 family, the outstretched pectoral fins act almost as a parachute, so 

 that these fish can skim the surface of the ocean in a manner similar to that 

 characteristic of the true flying-fishes. 



Grouped in another family consisting of two genera are the 

 dories, the species most familiar to Europeans being the John Dory 

 {Zeus faber), a flat and deep fish, with a row of bony plates along the bases of the 

 dorsal and pelvic fins, and ragged filaments on the dorsal spines. 



In the valuable family of flat-fishes the adults of all are un- 

 symmetrical, the head being so twisted as to bring the two eyes to 

 the same side, which is always dark, whereas the blind side is normally white. 

 All are carnivorous, and some members of the group abound on all muddy and 

 sandy shores, where the colour of the dark side harmonises with that of the sea- 

 bottom. They spawn in the first four or five months of the year, moving afterwards 



Flat-Fishes. 



