THE PLAICE. 69 



curve which the lateral line makes above the pectoral fin. The species frequents rocky ground, and is 

 taken in nets set for Red Mullet. It is not an abundant fish, and is said to feed upon small star- 

 fishes and sea-shells. 



Bloch's Topknot (Phrynorhombus imimaculatus) is a fish of very similar appearance, which has 

 nearly all the rays which form the dorsal and anal fins branched. The scales are small and spiny, 

 and the small ventral fin is separated from the anal fin. The first dorsal ray is generally prolonged 

 into a filament as long as the head. The colour is brownish-grey, with black spots, and a red 

 spot edged with black occurs on the middle of the tail. It ranges from the Mediterranean to 

 the shores of Britain, and has been taken in the English Channel and other parts of the British 

 coasts. 



The Scald-fish, or Megrim, or Smooth Sole (Artwglossus laterna), is the only representative in 

 the British Seas of a genus which is chiefly confined to the Mediterranean, but has one species 

 (Arnoglossiis aspilus) occurring in Java and Sumatra. In this genus the dorsal fin commences 

 on the snout, and the scales are shed. The British species also occurs in the Mediterranean. It is. 

 usually four or five inches long, and is rarely captured, as it never takes a bait. It is chiefly met 

 with in the stomachs of Conger Eels, and other fishes which frequent deep water. The name Scald- 

 fish is given from the circumstance that on being even lightly handled it readily sheds its scales as 

 though it had been scalded. The colour is usually a reddish-yellow, with paler margins to the fin ; 

 the body has the shape of the Sole, with the dorsal and anal fins somewhat elongated, but with 

 several of the first rays of the dorsal fin separated from each other into distinct threads. 



Many allied genera have a very limited distribution. Citharus is confined to the Mediterranean ; 

 Brachypleura to New Zealand ; Samaris to the Chinese Seas ; Psettichthys to the western coast of 

 North America; Citharichthys is frmnd in the tropical parts of the Atlantic and the coasts of 

 California ; Hemirhombus is another American genus, chiefly found in the West Indies and the 

 north coast of South America. Pseudorhombus is a genus with wider range, its fourteen species 

 being spread from Africa to Australia, China, and round the Pacific, while one species is only 

 known from New Yoi-k. Paralichthys is Calif ornian; Rhomboidichthys is a genus with many 

 species occurring in the tropical seas, but also represented in the Mediterranean and the Sea of 

 Japan. The Japanese form, Rlwmboidichthys grandisquama which ranges to the American coast 

 is the only species of the genus in which the scales are deciduous. 



This genus Pleuronectes, which contains the Plaice, Dabs, and Flounder, has a narrow mouth 

 with the teeth more numerous on the lower than on the upper side of the body. They are sometimes 

 in single, sometimes in double series. The eyes are generally on the right side. The dorsal fin always 

 commences above the eye ; the scales are always small, and in some species are entirely wanting. 

 The species vary so much from each other that Dr. Gunther well remarks that each species would have 

 to be formed into a separate genus if the characters which distinguish them were allowed the same- 

 importance as in the other members of this family. Some forms, for instance, have the lateral 

 line nearly straight, in others it is strongly curved. In about fifteen species the teeth are com- 

 pressed, and have a lanceolate form ; in the remaining seven species the teeth are conical. Some 

 species have minute simple scales ; one has the scales imbricated. In the Pleuronectes stellatus 

 and Pkuromctes asperrimus the scales are absent, and the skin is covered with tubercles. 

 Certain species have a prominent spine in front of the anal fin, while others want it ; yet, notwith- 

 standing these remarkable variations, the Pleuronectes form a natural group of fishes. They are 

 unknown in tropical seas, and chiefly come from the Arctic regions and temperate waters, though 

 represented in the Mediterranean by the Pleuronectes italicus, and in the Black Sea by Pleuronectes 

 luscus. 



THE PLAICE.* 



The Plaice, though a soft and watery fish as commonly cooked, is in great demand among the 

 poor of London, a special industry having grown up in the establishment of humble shops where it 

 is cut in transverse slices, fried in dripping, and sold hot at the counters at a penny each piece. 

 It forms an important item in the midday meal of workpeople in manufacturing districts ; but by 

 far the larger sale takes place in the evening, when the fat is carefully burned by the tradesman, 



* Pleuronectes platessa. 



