374 THE FLOUNDER FAMILY. 



were published as such in Nature^. Mr Holt, however, obtained 

 examples and brought them to St Andrews, where their true 

 nature was explained. The remarkable proportional length of 

 the narrow body is a diagnostic feature. The fin-formula as 

 given by Holt is D. 105, A. 89, C. 23, a result corresponding 

 with the adult; in other species it is not unusual for the 

 young to have a larger number of rays in the caudal. The 

 lower jaw is not longer than the upper and has a well-marked 

 prominence at the tip. The vesicular structures (foveai) are 

 apparent below the head (on the blind side). Scales are 

 present on the tail-peduncle. In the preserved examples the 

 black pigment alone remains scattered all over the ocular side. 

 There are two small and three large black patches on the in- 

 terspinous region dorsally, three large patches corresponding 

 to the latter three in the ventral region, and indications of 

 connecting bands in the middle of the body. A patch of black 

 is found on the distal part of the breast-fin, patches occur on 

 the pelvic fin, tail, extremity of the clavicle and ventral edge 

 of the abdomen. Holt estimates the age of these at 4 or 6 

 months, and he is probably right. 



Older stages about 5 to 7 inches in length were trawled 

 at 144 fathoms in July, and the characters are adult. These 

 are probably a year old. In the Trawling Expeditions no very 

 young witches were observed, the smallest having a length of 

 7| inches. They were most numerous in the Moray Frith. 



An outline of a young specimen at the preceding stage 

 (when it takes to the bottom) is given in Plate XIV, fig. 14 — 

 after Petersen. 



The Dab I {Pleuronectes limanda, L.) 



This little pleuronectid, the smallest of the genus, also 

 has the smallest egg (Plate IV, fig. 18), although that of 

 the flounder is only slightly larger. The average diameter is 

 about -033 of an inch (070 mm., 075 mm. Canu^ 078 mm. Holt), 



1 Nature, Vol. 42, p. 520, and correction ibid. Vol. 43, p. 56. 



^ The eggs and larvte of many Teleosteaus have been described by Dr Caau 

 in the Annales de la Station Aquicole, Boulogne, 1893. It is unnecessary to 

 refer to those which only corroborate previous observations. 



