1 84 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



something like lobster-traps and baited. The young Smooth Flounder may be taken in summer on 

 the beaches. The largest females observed weighed twenty-three ounces, the weight of the spawn 

 being seven ounces. Too little attention has hitherto been paid to this fish, but it seems more 

 than probable that in the future it will greatly increase in favor. 



59. THE FLAT FISHES AND SOLES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 



By DAVID S. JORDAN. 

 THE STARRY FLOUNDER PLEURONECTES STELLATUS Pallas. 



This species is known, wherever found, as the " Flounder," all others being considered as Bas- 

 tard or False Flounders. At San Francisco the name Flounder is rarely used in a generic sense, 

 but only as a special appellation of this species. It reaches a length of nearly three feet, and a 

 weight of fifteen to twenty pounds, larger individuals being found northward than southward along 

 the coast. The average length in the market is about fifteen inches, and the weight two or three 

 pounds. Its rate of growth is probably rapid, but we have no certain data in regard to it. 



It ranges from San Luis Obispo to Kamtchatka, and from San Francisco northward it is by 

 far the most abundant species. It probably constitute/I half, by weight, of the total annual catch 

 of Flounders on the Pacific coast. It enters the mouths of rivers, and considerable numbers are 

 taken in the salmon-nets on the Lower Columbia. It is found in water of moderate depth, and is 

 taken in seines and gill-nets, and sometimes with the hook. 



Its food is Crustacea, mollusca, and such fishes as it can swallow, its month being compara- 

 tively small. It spawns in summer. Nothing special- is known of its breeding habits. Jt has no 

 especial enemy that we know of, with the exception of a tetradecapod, known as " fish-louse," 

 which is very frequently found attached to the fins, gill-membranes, and gills of this and other 

 species of flounders. 



As a food-fish this species is held in rather high esteem. The flesh is firm, and although 

 coarser than in the so-called Soles, is of fair flavor in the young. The very large individuals 

 (eight to twenty pounds) are sold at a lower price, and are considered poor eating. A considerable 

 portion of those in the San Francisco market come from Hnmboldt Bay. 



This, according to Dr. Bean, is one of the most widely distributed littoral fish known to exist, 

 ranging in North America to the mouth of the Colville and Anderson Rivers on the arctic coast. 

 It enters extensively into the resources of Alaska, being the largest and most abundant of its kind 

 in that region. 



A related species, P.glaoialis, is especially abundant in Northern Alaska, occurring plentifully 

 as far south as Saint Michael's. Although small, its great abundance and fine flavor make it 

 important as an article of food. Traveling parties of Eskimos generally have a supply of this fish 

 in their bidarras. They are usually eaten raw. 



THE ROUGH LIMANDA LIMANDA ASPERA (Pallas) Bean. 



This species, according to Dr. Bean, is smaller than its Atlantic relative, Limanda ferruginea, 

 which it closely resembles, and its range is rather limited. It is found about Unalashka and has 

 been taken at Sitka, W ran gel, and other localities in the Gulf of Alaska. Its flavor is fine, and it 

 is used extensively for food by Eskimos and Indians. 



