of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 



72 







Ear stones. 



Figure on the 

 Plate. 



Length of the 

 Fish. 













Length. 



Width. 



2 (PL ii. B .) 



16! inches. 



About 6*5mm. 



4 "5mm. 



3 



14 „ 



,, 53mm. '■ 4 0mm. 



4 



12 „ 



,, 5 -0mm. j 3*5mm. 



5 





_ n f One 3 -5mm.. other 

 • » 50mnL \ rather less. 



11 



32 (PL i. b.) 



165 -Omm. • 



,, 3'6mm. 2 - 5mm. 



33 



87*0mm. 



,, 2 -0mm. j l a 5mm. 



It will be noticed that while in the case of the first four the earstones 

 are only about one-sixtieth or sixty-fourth part of the length of the fishes 

 they belonged to, the earstones of the smaller fishes are proportionally 

 larger, as in some other examples previously mentioned. 



Genus Platophrys. 



Platophrys laterna (Walb.). The Scald-fish. PI. i. b., fig. 30. 



The earstones of a single example of the scald-fish are represented here. 

 They are from a fish measuring 138mm. (about 5| inches) in length, and 

 are of an oblong form. The posterior end is truncated, and there is a 

 small notch at the anterior extremity. They measure about 3mm. long 

 by about 2mm. in width. 



Genus Pleuronectes. 



Pleuronectes platessa (Linn.). The Plaice. PL iii. a., figs. 15-21. 



The earstones of seven examples of plaice, the length of which ranges 

 from 610mm. (about 24 inches) to 64mm., are shown on pi. iii. a. The 

 large pair have a tolerably massive structure, and are of an oval shape ; 

 the posterior end is moderately broad and somewhat obliquely truncated, 

 while the anterior end is tolerably narrow and rounded ; the lower margin 

 is evenly, but not very boldly, rounded or much thickened. The upper 

 edge, which is thicker than the other, is moderately straight but of a 

 somewhat irregular outline, and exhibits a shallow notch near the middle. 

 They measure about 12mm. long by about 7 '5mm. broad. They are thus 

 about one-fiftieth part of the entire length of the fish. The other ear- 

 stones represented by the photographs are from comparatively small 

 fishes, the lengths of which, and of their earstones, are given in the 

 annexed Table. 



Figure on the 

 Plate, (iii. a.) 



Length of the 

 Fish. 



Earstones. 



Length. 



Width. 



16 

 17 



18 

 19 



20 ' 

 21 



287mm. 

 273mm. 

 273mm. 

 160mm. 



91mm. 



64mm. 



About 6 -5mm. 

 ,, 6 -2mm. 

 ,, 6 Oram. 

 ,, 4 "Omm. 

 ,, 2 -5mm. 

 ,, 2 -0mm. 



Nearly 4 , 5mm. 



About 4 -5mm. 



,, 4*0mm. 



2 -8mm. 



2-0mm. 



,, l*5mm. 



