146 FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



of the body as 1 to 4 ; lower jaw longer than the upper ; jcnos 

 furnished with tv\^o rows of strong, sharp teeth ; the inner row 

 larger and incurved ; lips large and fleshy. Pupils of the eye 

 black ; irides silvery ; largest diameter of the eye, two and a 

 half inches ; shortest diameter, two inches ; distance between 

 the eyes, two inches. Nostrils double ; anterior tubular, 

 posterior larger. 



The Dorsal fin commences above the anterior portion of the 

 eye, and terminates a short distance in front of the caudal fin ; 

 height of this fin in its middle, to the height of the rays on a 

 line opposite the base of the pectorals, as 6 to 1. 



The Pectorals arise just back of the posterior angle of the 

 operculum ; length to height as 2J to 7. 



The Ventrals commence on a line opposite the base of the 

 pectorals ; the third ray is the longest. 



The Anal fin arises from a line opposite the posterior portion 

 of the pectorals, and terminates on the same plane with the 

 dorsal. Two apertures anterior to the anal fin ; the anterior, 

 the anus ; the posterior, the smaller, the urinary outlet. 



The fin rays are : B. 7 ; D. 99 ; P. 17 ; V. 6 ; A. 73 ; C. 18. 



Occasionally reversed specimens of this fish are met with ; 

 during the last season, I saw in Boston market, a fish weighing 

 103 pounds, with left side colored, bearing the eyes. 



Rhombus. Cuv. 



Generic characters. Color and eyes on the left side ; teeth 

 in the jjLiDS and pharynx ; dorsal fin commences anterior to the 

 upper eye ; dorsal and anal fins extending very nearly to the 

 tail. 



R. aquosus. Mitchell. The Watery Flounder. 



Trans. Lit. et rhilosoph. Soc. vol. i, p. 389. 

 Boston Journal of Natural Histoiy, vol. i. p. 351. 



This species which has not been noticed in any numbers in 

 our waters, until within the last three or four years, is known 

 among the fishermen as the " Turhot,^'' and is sold by them as 



