46 



with several others under the name of sole. It may be recognized 

 by its elongate, narrow head, with the upper eye placed upon the 

 dorsal ridge, so as to look dorsally as well as laterally, by its elongate, 

 rhombic form, the outlines of the posterior portion of the body being 

 nearly straight, and by the development of the teeth upon the blind 

 side only, where they form a single row. In color it is usually of a 

 uniform reddish ash, but some of the younger individuals are irreg- 

 ularly spotted with darker blotches. On the blind side it is creamy- 

 white. The number of rays in the dorsal and anal fins varies from 

 74 to 86 and from about 54 to 68 respectively, a variation which 

 has probably been the cause of the description of the nominal species, 

 digrammus and hubbardi, by Giinther and Gill. Those brought to 

 market are from eight to fifteen inches long, and occasionally a little 

 larger, but the species does not appear to attain the weight of Pset- 

 tichthys melanostictus or Hipimglos^oides jordani, as it is much more 

 slender in form. It is usually taken outside the bay. As a food 

 fish, according to_ my judgment, as well as that of those dealers who 

 distinguish it, it is inferior to the two species just mentioned. 



Lepidopsetta bilineata; Platessa bilineat a, Ay res, Mottled Flounder — 

 The first description of this fish will be found in the Proceedings 

 of the California Academy of Sciences, vol. 1, p. — . It is one of 

 the numerous forms described by Dr. Ayres, and has always been 

 one of the rarest and least known of our fishes, very little hav- 

 ing been added to our knowledge of it since Ayres wrote. It may 

 be readily known from every other kind found here by the follow- 

 ing characters: Many of the scales upon the body are ctenoid ; that 

 is, beset upon their hinder edges with spinules ; those on the cheeks 

 are tubercular or roughened with bluntish points upon a large part 

 of their surface; the form is regularly oval, the width of the body 

 almost equal to half of the total length, and the color a quite light 

 yellow with irregular white spots. 



As in so many other of the more nearly related fiat-fishes, the 

 teeth, which are in a single row, are not equally developed on the 

 two sides of the jaws, but are principallj^ upon the blind side. The 

 eyes are large, forming f of the length of the head. This species is 

 only occasionally brought to the markets, where, with several species 

 previously mentioned, it bears the name of "sole." Those brought 

 are usually of tolerably large size, from fourteen to fifteen inches 

 long, and are caught at or near the Farallone Islands, though proba- 

 bly not in such deep water as Pleuronicthys coenosus, since the eyes 

 do not protrude, as is usually the case with the eyes of fishes sud- 

 denly brought up from deep water. On account of the spots upon 

 its surface, I have given it the name of "mottled sole," or rather, 

 mottled flounder. As a food fish it is excellent, yet is not consid- 

 ered equal to Psettichthys melanostictus. The lateral line, or row of 

 pores which runs along the body from the head to the tip of the 

 caudal fin, makes a bold, semi-circular arch over the pectoral fin; 

 and there is, as in the three preceding species and the one following, 

 an accessory line of pores running from some distance along the 

 dorsal margin. This accessory lateral line is subject to curious modi- 

 fications in its length and in the form of its anterior branches. The 

 whitish blotches upon the colored side often form a series along the 

 dorsal and abdominal margins. 



Lepidopsetta umbrosa; Plcdichthys umbrosus, Girard — This species is 

 most nearly related to the mottled sole from the Farrallone Islands 



