THE FLAT FISH OR WINTKi: I I.OIMH.i;: HA HITS. 183 



unless it he i he seulpins. There is very little e\ idem-c of .1 tend. nc\ to move to itnd fiotn the 

 shore with a change of season. Winter and summer, they appear to l>c <>i|iiully abundant from 

 New York to the Hay of Clialcur. where, in the tide-way <!' Miiainichi Hivcr, they are caught in 

 winter through holes in the ice. In Labrador they are described as exceedingly abundant iu 

 suininer. but nothing is known of their winter habits. 1'rot'csxor li.md ibnnd them scarce iu 

 Southern New Jersey in summer, lint learned that they were veiy alinndan' in the bays in winter. 

 Small quantities arc brought to Washington iu winter from the month of the Chesapeake. 



The spawning season occurs early in spring, in February and March on the Connecticut coast, 

 and is thought to be closed by the tirst part of April. Young fish of half an inch iu length are 

 found in July in the deeper parts of the bays aud sounds, and iu August and September, having 

 attained the length of one and one-half to five inches, occur in great abundance iu the coves and 

 along the sandy shores of the Southern New England coast, in very shallow water. Their growth 

 is probably rapid, though it would seem most likely that the five-inch specimens, just referred to, 

 were eighteen months rather than six months old. The largest that have been discovered were 

 fifteen inches long, and would weigh from one to one and a half pounds. 



The flesh of the Flat Fish Is solid, white, and of excellent flavor, and deserves a more general 

 popularity than it has yet attained. It is, and has been for the last century, largely consumed in 

 New York in winter. Schoepf, writing in 1776, mentions it as occurring in the market iu spring; 

 later, writing in 1818, he states that small numbers were found iu the stalls in January and 

 February, takeu with spears while searching for eels. These were not very inviting, owing to 

 their mangled appearance aud frozen state, but, with the disappearance of ice and the approach of 

 spring, their numbers increased, and in March the stalls were well filled with them, cheap and fre*k 

 aud good. They were only used as pan-fish; Gill wrote, in 1856: "This is the most common species 

 of flounder that is brought to the city markets in the winter and spring months ; it is seldom sold 

 at a higher price than eight to ten cents per pound. Flounders are chiefly sold by the weight; 

 occasionally they are strung through the branchial apertures on twigs and nominally sold by the 

 bunch." 



The Smooth Flounder, or Christmas Flounder, Pleuronectea glaber, is very similar in habits and 

 appearance to the Flat Fish, and is still closer to the Flounder of Europe, being a member of the 

 same genus. It may be distinguished from the former by its smooth skin, which has given to the 

 species, iu some localities, the name " Eel-back." Its distribution is extremely limited, it having 

 been recorded as only found in Salem, Massachusetts, Portland and Belfast, Maine, or within the 

 limits of two degrees of latitude. Its range may in the future be extended farther to the north, but 

 it is certain that at present none occur south of Salem. In Casco Bay they are very abundant iu 

 summer, and the Fish Commission secured great quantities of them in water three or four fathoms 

 deep in Bluelight Cove. They have never elsewhere been observed, except in winter, about Christ- 

 mas time, when they come into the harbors to spawn. At Salem they are, on this account, called the 

 Christinas Fish. Considerable quantities are caught every year by spearing them upon the sand. 

 At this place they arc also called " Fool Fish," because, in their anxiety for fowl, they w ill bite at 

 any kind of bait, even at a rag. The spawning season is short, and they soon retire into deeper 

 water. At Portland, and in the vicinity, considerable numbers are takeu in the winter fishery in 

 company with the Flat Fish, and with them are sent to New York and neighboring markets. In 

 one instance a quantity was ottered for sale iu the markets of Washington. The spawning season 

 on the coast of Maine is slightly earlier than that of Massachusetts, beginning as early as the 

 middle of December, while in Penobscot Bay they ate taken at the very beginning of the month, full 

 of spawn. In Penobscot Bay they aie taken in daps, or " Hieis," as the fishermen call them, shaped 



