CHAPTER LIII 



THE ORDER OF FLAT-FISHES 



HETEROSO^fATA 



The flounders, halibuts, soles, plaice, and 

 turbots make up the very desirable and important 

 Order of Fiat-Fishes. When in doubt about an 

 English or continental breakfast, order a fried 

 sole and you are safe; for so trustworthy is this 

 fish that only the most bungling cook can spoil 

 it. In England, the sole is almost a national 

 institution, but on our side, its counterpart, the 

 small flounder, is not so plentiful that it attains 

 equal importance on the daily bill of fare. 



The Order of Fiat-Fishes, all the world over, 

 is very large, " containing about fafty-five genera 



THE COMMON HALIBUT. 



and nearly five hundred species." Among its 

 members, some of the halibuts attain great size. 

 Almost any member of this Order is recognizable 

 at one glance, by its broad, o\'al form, almost 

 completely encircled by the fringe-like dorsal 

 and anal fins, and the presence of both eyes on 

 the upper side of the body. The body is so thin 

 that " flat as a flounrler " is a standard comparison 

 wherever the English language is spoken. 



The Fiat-Fishes are good examples of pro- 

 tective coloring. All these fishes swim and rest 

 with their bodies in a horizontal position. The 

 upper surface, or back, is always darkest, and 



418 



in many instances it is so skilfully colored and 

 mottled in imitation of the sandy bottom on 

 which it lives, that when at rest on the floor of 

 the ocean or aquarium the fish is almost invisible. 

 On the other hand, the under side of the fish is 

 white, or cream color, in order that to enemies 

 below it, looking upward, it will match the light 

 of the upper world. 



As food fishes, the majority of the Fiat-Fishes 

 are very desirable. Their flesh is excellent, and 

 their bones are few and far between. The flesh 

 of the halibut is very white and firm, and whether 

 fresh or smoked, it is highly 

 palatable. 



The common flounders are so 

 well known they require no 

 special notice. The species most 

 common on our coast is the 

 Winter Flounder,^ which is 

 caught in great numbers, and of 

 all our Fiat-Fishes is next in 

 value to the great halibut. It is 

 a small species, with an average 

 weight of about 3 piounds, and 

 a maximum of 5 pounds, or there- 

 abouts. It has been extensively 

 propagated by the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries. 

 The Common Halibut^ is a 

 cold-water fish of commanding importance. It is 

 widely dispersed throughout both the North At- 

 lantic, North Pacific and circumpolar waters, not 

 only in shallow waters and the off-shore banks, 

 but also on the sides of the sea-bottom slopes 

 down to 1,.'500 feet. In the Atlantic, fishermen 

 say the species stops at the latitude of the Dela- 

 ware River. The fisheries along the west coast of 

 Greenland are so important that regularly every 

 year a number of schooners from Connecticut and 

 Massachusetts go north, sometimes beyond the 



' Pseu'do-pleu'ro-nec'tes americanus. 

 '' Hip-po-glos'sus hip-po-glos'sus. 



