302 THE PLAICE. 



its structures. It is quite colourless, except a very slender and very delicate pink streak 

 on the edge of the back, and several similar lines upon the sides ; the perfect but glass- 

 like skeleton is hardly to be detected, and even the viscera are almost invisible. It is a 

 very little fish, appearing not to exceed two inches in length ; but its width is propor- 

 tionately great, so that the fish assumes a nearly circular form. The eyes are silvery white, 

 and the pectoral fins are wholly absent. 



THE well-known TUEBOT, so widely and so worthily celebrated for the firm delicacy of 

 its flesh, inhabits many of the European coasts, and is found in tolerable abundance off our 

 own shores. Like all flat fishes, it mostly haunts the sandy bed of the sea, but will 

 sometimes swim boldly to the surface of the water. It is a restless and wandering fish, 

 traversing considerable distances as it feeds, and generally moving in small companies. 



Two modes of catching the Turbot are employed by fishermen, namely, the trawl-net 

 and the long line. As long as the fish remain on the banks, or tolerably near the shore, 

 the net is used, and in its capacious mouth is taken a strange medley of fishes, among 

 which the Turbot is generally plentiful 



Should, however, the Turbot retire into deep water, or should the weather be too rough 

 for the management of the net, the fishermen employ the line for its capture. The Turbot 

 is gifted by nature with a fine and discriminating appetite, and voracious as it is, it refuses 

 to touch any bait that is not quite fresh, and is said to reject it if any other fish has even 

 bitten it. Certain small fishes are in great repute, especially those which glitter with a 

 silvery lustre. Formerly the lampern of the rivers was extensively used as bait, as its 

 skin is smooth and shiny, and it can be kept alive for a considerable time. The atherine, 

 sea scorpion, and father-lasher are now, however, the principal favourites with the 

 fishermen. The Turbot feeds upon molluscs and crustaceans besides fish. 



The Turbot is known in Scotland by the title of BANNOCK FLEUK, or SPAWN FLEUK, 

 the former name being given to it on account of its flat shape, which resembles a bannock 

 or oatcake, and the latter because it is thought to be at the best while in roe. After 

 spawning, i. e. about August, its flesh loses its peculiar firmness, but in a very short time 

 the fish regains its condition. 



The colour of the Turbot is brown of different shades on one side, usually the left, and 

 the whole of that side is spotted with little round bony tubercles, which may be found in 

 the skin after boiling. The size of this fish is extremely variable. The average weight is 

 six or seven pounds, but Turbots are often taken of far greater dimensions. The largest 

 specimen of which an authentic notice is preserved, was taken near Plymouth in the 

 year 1730, and weighed seventy pounds. 



ANOTHER flat fish, the BRILL (Pleuronectes rJwmbus), called in Scotland the BONNET 

 FLEUK, and in Devonshire and Cornwall known by the names of KITE and BEETT, is held 

 in much estimation for the sake of its flesh, which is but little inferior to that of the 

 turbot, and is, indeed, sometimes fraudulently substituted for that fish. The Brill resembles 

 the turbot in food and habits as well as in appearance, but does not attain the same 

 dimensions, seldom exceeding seven or eight pounds in weight. The skin of the dark side 

 is devoid of the bony tubercles which are found in the turbot. Its colour is reddish brown, 

 mottled with a darker tint of the same colour, and variegated with numerous round white 

 spots of a pearly lustre. On account of these spots the Brill is sometimes called the 

 PEAEL. When young, the pale reddish brown is covered with spots of black or very 

 dark brown. 



PASSING by the two species of Topknots, we come to the PLAICE, so well known by the 

 bright red spots which are scattered over its dark side. 



This is one of the commonest of the British flat fishes, and, happily for the poor, is 

 taken in such quantities that it supplies nutritious aliment at a very low rate of purchase. 

 It is taken chiefly with the trawl-net, but can be captured with the line, as it "bites freely 

 at a bait, generally the common lugworm, and is one of the fish that is most usually caught 

 by amateur sea-fishers. Even the shrimpers take large quantities of small Plaice in their 



