THE FLAT-FISH FAMILY 



259 



The Thickback {Solea variegata). 



Distinguishing Characters. — Pectoral fins very small, rudi- 

 mentary. Mouth straighter and nearer the snout than in the 

 other species. Marginal fins do not reach the root of the tail. 

 Fin-rays about the same number as in the solenette. Colour, 

 brownish-red with five dark bands across the body, the ends of 

 which bands on the fins are black. Grows to 8| inches in length. 



Habitat. — From the Mediterranean to the British Islands. 

 It is common off the coasts of Devon and Cornwall. Only one 



Fig. 119. — Newly-hatched larva of the Thickback, alive and magnified. 



was taken in the Irish Survey, but it has been obtained on the 

 west of Scotland. It is not found in the North Sea or on the 

 east coast of Scotland usually, although said to have been taken 

 off Banffshire. 



It is a deep water species, at least in our latitudes, not 

 having been taken in less than 20 fathoms, and it was trawled 

 off the south-west of Ireland at 150 fathoms. Off Plymouth 

 it is abundant to the south of the Eddystone, in from 30 

 to 40 fathoms. 



The females are more numerous and larger than the males ; 

 in one lot there were 179 females to 34 males, or 526 of the 

 former to 100 of the latter. 



They were spawning freely south of the Eddystone in April. 



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