the Fishes of Massachusetts. 351 



' The turbot, on its back, is covered with small tubercles ; 

 the scales are very minute, making the skin to appear as 

 if wrinkled. It has been known to weigh as much as 

 thirty pounds. This fish, unlike the turbot, has the eyes 

 on the left side, if it is placed erect on its belly, with its 

 tail towards the observer: the color of the left side is 

 of a light brown, covered with spots of a deeper color, 

 varying in their form and dimensions — some almost cir- 

 cular, and surrounded with a white or yellowish ray; the 

 scales not strikingly small, and appearing to a careless 

 observer as if serrated. 



Right side bluish white, immaculate. The dorsal fin 

 commences like that of the turbot, in front of the eye, 

 between it, and the angle of the upper jaw. The mem- 

 brane between the three first dorsal rays is more deeply 

 cleft than in any of the remainder ; this fin is continued 

 nearly to the tail, from which it is separated by a very 

 small space ; the anal fin is continued to the base of the 

 tail opposite the dorsal. 



Besides the deeply colored spots which are distributed 

 irregularly over the left side of this fish, its margin, as well 

 as the dorsal and anal fins, are sprinkled thickly with white 

 dots ; these are more strongly marked in the specimen I 



and 



the fins. , 



The characters then, by which it may be distinguished, 

 are these: ' 



I 



Its eyes are on the left side ^ those of the turbot are 

 on the right : its left side, or what would commonly be 

 called the hack^ is smooth; the corresponding side in the 

 turbot is covered with tubercles : the turbot grows to 

 the weight of thirty pounds ; it is uiiusual to find this 

 species weighing more than twelve or fourteen, and this 

 is probably near the maximum weight : the lower iaw of 



