12 NATURAL HISTORY. 



The Pole, or Craig Fluke (Pleuronectes cynoglossus), is another Arctic species which frequents 

 British coasts occasionally, and is sometimes met with on the coast of Belgium. It has been captured 

 somewhat plentifully with the net near Newcastle, in County Down. The stomachs contain bivalve 

 shell-fish and crustaceans. They reach a length of sixteen or seventeen inches, a breadth of eight or 

 nine, and a thickness of one inch. The shape is very similar to that of the Sole. The lateral line 

 is straight, without any curve above the pectoral fin. The small scales entirely cover the head, on 

 which they become imbricated. There is no prominent spine in front of the anal fin. The colour 

 is greyish-brown. 



THE FLOUNDER.* 



The Flounder abounds on all the British coasts, and extends from France round the northern 

 shores of Europe to Iceland and Greenland. It is common throughout the Baltic as far north as lat. 

 60. Couch mentions that it is largely preyed upon by many sea birds, especially the Divers, 

 Cormorants, and the Shag. Being unable to swallow so wide a fish, it is first pecked so as to break 

 the "bones, and then the sides are rolled together, and the fish is passed head foremost into the bird's 

 gullet. A length of a foot is a large size; the females are probably a little larger than the males. 

 The roe attains its full size in December, and the young appear about the beginning of the following 

 May. The eggs are deposited at the mouths of rivers. The colour of the animal mimics that of the 

 sea-bed on which it lives. Yarrell records that the backwaters behind Yarmouth yield dark-coloured 

 fish, while those caught in the sands at sea have a light colour. The Flounder thrives well in the 

 Thames, and is taken at Teddington and Sunbuiy. In France it occurs as far inland as the 

 Dordogne. From Deptford to Richmond the Thames fishermen use a tuck net for its capture. 

 One end of the net is fixed by an anchor, and its position marked by a buoy ; the boat is then 

 sculled by an apprentice in a circle while the fisherman pays out the net from the stern. When 

 the circle is complete the net is hauled in across the fixed end. In the Avon Flounders ascend within 

 three miles of Bath, and they live well in fresh-water ponds. Occasionally both sides are colourless? 

 or both sides may be coloured, or the colour may vary through many shades of brown ; yellowish 

 spots sometimes occur on the sides, and, according to Blanchard, are most vivid in the spring, and 

 disappear later in the year. The body resembles that of the Plaice in form ; the teeth are obtuse and 

 conical ; the scales are minute and smooth, but there are bands of rough scales or tubercles on the side 

 of the head ; rows of rough tubercles extend along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins ; the lateral 

 line curves very slightly above the pectoral fin. In Normandy it is used, according to Blanchard, 

 in the process of washing wool imported from America. 



THE SOLE.f 



There are thirty -three species of Sole, widely distributed through tropical and temperate seas ; 

 several are limited to the West Indies, others extend from the Australian coasts by way of the Malay 

 Islands to the China Seas and Japan. A fresh-water Sole (Solea mentalis), seven inches long, is only 

 known from the river Capin, in the province of Para, in Brazil. There are four British species of 

 Spl.e, and one of these (Solea minuta) is not known from any other locality. The chief variations 

 which species exhibit are in the presence or absence of one or both of the pectoral fins, some 

 Japanese species wanting both fins. The constant characters are the oblong body, rounded in front ; 

 the narrow mouths, obliquely twisted to the left side, with fine teeth in bands on its blind side only. 

 The lateral line is straight, the scales are small and ctenoid, and the dorsal fin is not blended with 

 the. tail. 



The Common Sole delights in sandy and gravelly places, and abounds all round England in 

 deeper, ; water than the Flounder or Plaice. It ranges into the Baltic and throughout the Medi- 

 terranean. Yarrell quotes Dr. M'Culloch as stating that in Guernsey a Sole had been kept in a 

 fr.Qsh-water pond in a garden for many years, and became twice as thick as a Sole from the sea of 

 th,e same size. Soles breed freely in the river Arun, near the town of Arundel, which is five miles 

 from its mouth, remain in the river throughout the year, and bury themselves in the sand during 

 the cold months of winter. Here they are often taken of a pound weight, sometimes weighing two 

 pounds, and are always relatively thicker than sea Soles. Soles especially abound along the English 



* Pleuronectes flesux. t Solea rulgaris. 



