98 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 



that is, they float loose in the ocean, at the mercy of winds 

 and currents, until the free-swimming larval form is hatched. 

 The food of the flounder consists of small creatures, such as 

 worms, crustaceans, etc. It is a favourite with estuarine 

 anglers, biting freely at a bait of worm or soft crab. Its 

 flesh is palatable and nutritious, but of rather watery flavour. 

 It is of the kind which profits greatly from the offices of a 

 good cook. Living as I do on the shores of the Bay of 

 Luce, I used to cherish the belief that the flounders of that 

 fair gulf were superior to any others. It is true that the 

 flounders served to me were larger, sweeter, and firmer than 

 any I encountered in other districts ; but the illusion was 

 dispelled when I found that the Luce Bay flounders were 

 really plaice, locally known as flounders, while the term 

 "fluke" is reserved in that district for the flounder itself 



In size the flounder rarely exceeds nine inches. 



The sole {Solea vulgaris) and the plaice {Platessa vulgaris) 

 both frequent estuaries at times, and it is said that they some- 

 times ascend rivers to the extreme limit of the tide ; but it 

 appears to me that to include such essentially marine species 

 among our fresh-water fishes is to strain the definition beyond 

 what it will justly bear. 



