608 THE OCEAN WORLD. 
both stretching out to a point towards the centre, giving a rhombic 
form to the fish. The jaws are furnished with a single row of obtuse 
teeth. 
The Common Plaice, ?. vulgaris (Fig. 388), attains the length of 
twelve or eighteen inches; it is brown above, spotted with red or 
orange. On the eye-side of the head are some osseous tubercles. 
The body, which is somewhat lozenge-shaped, is smooth. 
The Flounders (P. #esws) are fresh-water fishes of small size, 
Fig. 388.—The Common Plaice (Platessa vulgaris), 
abundant in the Thames and many other rivers; these flounders 
and plaice are only second in importance to the soles and turbot 
among the Pleuronectidz ; the numbers of brill, flounders, dab, and 
plaice required being close upon a hundred million for the yearly 
supply of London alone. 
The usual mode of capturing flat-fish is by means of a trawl-net, 
but many species of them may be caught with a hand-line. ‘A day’s 
sea-fishing,” says Dr. Bertram, in his “ Harvest of the Sea,” “will 
be chequered by many little adventures, There are various minor 
monsters of the deep that will vary the monotony of the day by oc- 
casionally devouring the bait. A tadpole fish, better known as the 
sea-devil, or angler, may be hooked ; ora visit from a hammer-headed. 
