278 LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



pounds, and indeed the " ovaries of a large fish are too heavy to be lifted by a man 

 without considerable exertion, being often two feet or more in length." A portion of 

 the roe, "representing a fair average of the eggs, was weighed and found to contain 

 2,185 eggs," and the entire number would be 2,182,773. 



The turbot, Psetta maxima, is distinguished by its wide body, the absence of any 

 scales, and the development of simple tubercles upon the body, and the color, which 

 is sandy-brown with dark spots and blotches on the colored side. The fish is of large 

 size, being next in that respect, among the English flat-fishes, to the halibut. The 

 largest authentic one appears to have been of seventy pounds weight; another of 

 forty-four and a half pounds was taken in Ireland ; Parnell was informed of one 

 which weighed one hundred and ninety pounds, but this, doubtless, was a halibut, 

 which sometimes bears the same name in Scotland. 



The range of the turbot is almost throughout the European seas, extending from 

 the Mediterranean to the coast of Scandinavia. It is found on sandy and muddy 

 bottoms in water of moderate depth, and even in shallow water. It is erratic in its 

 movements, however, and in winter generally retires into deeper water. Its diet 

 appears to consist of crabs and their like, but it also feeds upon star-fishes, sea- 

 urchins, and the eggs of fishes, and fishes themselves of its own class. 



The reproductive organs become functionally develoised in spring and summer. 

 The female has a large number of eggs of very small size ; in one of twenty-three 

 pounds weight Buckland found the roe weighing five pounds nine ounces, and with 

 about 14,311,200 eggs. The young appear to retain their symmetrical condition for a 

 longer period than most of its kind, but this may be due to the larger size of the fish 

 itself. Dr. Day mentioned one of one and a half inches long, in which the eye was 

 still in transit from one side to the other. In the Southport aquarium the young of 

 two and a half years jsast had grown to a weight of ten pounds, and in two years 

 more the same fishes had further augmented to twenty pounds, or an average annual 

 increase of four and a half pounds each. 



The turbot is the prince of its tribe, so far, at least, as its relations to man are con- 

 cerned. Its reputation, however, is probably to some extent the result of fashion, and 

 it is not probable that it really has points of excellence much above two or three 

 American species of the family. It is generally boiled for the table, and lemon juice 

 is rubbed over to preserve its whiteness. 



The turbot has been repeatedly stated to be found along the American coast, but 

 all such statements have been baseless. Its nearest American relative is the Lopho- 

 psetta maculata, a fish of no value for food or anything else, and known by such sug- 

 gestive names as window-pane and daylight, it being so thin as to be almost transpa- 

 rent. But it is sometimes called spotted-turbot. In the United States, however, the 

 namq, turbot is chiefly applied to flat-fishes of the genera, Paralichthys and Reinhardtius. 



The common plaice of Europe (Plewonectes platessa) is a fish with teeth like the 

 palings of a fence, compressed, blunt, and close together ; the body is covered with 

 small, imbricated, cycloid scales, and there are still smaller ones on the cheeks and 

 opercular bones ; the lateral line is nearly straight. The color of the dark side is 

 brownish, suffused with reddish and mottled with orange or yellowish spots nearly as 

 large as the eyes. One has been found of fifteen pounds weight, but the general size 

 is less than two pounds. It ranges along the Atlantic coast of Europe, but is very 

 rare in the Mediterranean. It is found upon both sandy, muddy, and rocky 

 bottoms, and in waters of moderate depth. "When disturbed, it will shoot away 



