18 Mr. Thompson on Fishes new to Ireland. 



of August, 1836, three small specimens of this fish were cap- 

 tured by Mr. Hyndman and myself when dredging on a sandy 

 bottom off Dundrum, in the county of Down. 



Breadth of body of No. 1, 13 hues. In form they differ con- 

 siderably from Solea vulgaris, by tapering towards the tail. 

 Dorsal and anal fins similarly connected with the caudal, the 

 last ray of each exhibiting a low inconspicuous membrane, 

 which extends to the base of the outer caudal ray — these 

 three fins, merely touching in this manner, appear at a cursory 

 view unconnected. In the number of rays in the fins, and 

 characters generally, they correspond with Donovan's descrip- 

 tion of the Pleuronectes variegatus (vol. v. p. 117)} but differ 

 remarkably from his figure in colouring ; nor in this respect 

 do they agree entirely with Hanmer's figure (Penn. Brit. Zool., 

 vol. iii. pi. 48. ed. 1812), with which I consider them identical, 

 as they want the blotches of black represented on the dorsal 

 and anal fins. They also differ a little from each other in co- 

 louring, the largest being of an uniform reddish brown on the 

 upper side ; the two smaller, of a paler shade, with a series of 

 roundish black spots on the body, a short way inwardly from 

 the back of the dorsal and anal fins, and a few similar spots on 

 the lateral line : in one the spots approaching the fins just 

 named are eight in number, in the other they are fewer and 

 less conspicuous. In the three specimens all the fins except 

 the ventral have, at irregular intervals, an occasional ray black; 

 the rays only exhibiting this colour. 



Mr. Jenyns has called attention to the difference of colour 

 and number of rays in the fins of the specimen he examined 

 (p. 468) compared with the individual described by Mr. Han- 

 mer. In both respects it appears the species is subject to 

 considerable variation. Dr. Parnell has more recently de- 

 scribed (Mag. Zool. and Bot., vol. i. p. 527) what he considers 

 to be a new species of sole, and names Monochirus minuius j 



