182 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



It cannot at present, however, be considered very important. The other species, Paralichthys 

 stigmatias, occurs in deep water (seventy-five fathoms) off the coast of South Carolina, and may be 

 distinguished by the presence of three conspicuous spots upon the upper side of the body. 



57. THE BASTAED -HALIBUT. 



This fish {Paralichthys maculosus Girard), writes Jordan, is known as the Halibut, Bastard 

 Halibut, and Monterey Halibut. South of, San Francisco, where the true Halibut is not found, 

 the larger individuals, which really greatly resemble the Halibut, are known by that name, the 

 young being rarely distinguished from other " Soles." At San Francisco, where the true Halibut 

 is known, this species is called the Bastard Halibut, and sometimes the Monterey Halibut, as they 

 are mostly brought from Monterey. It reaches a length of three feet and a weight of sixty poundsj 

 the largest seen by us weighing fifty-five pounds. A great majority of those taken' weigh less than 

 three pounds, and it is said that large individuals are much less plenty than they formerly were. 

 Its range is from Tomales Bay to San Diego, and south of Point Concepcion. It is the commonest 

 species of its family. Although not rare at San Francisco, it forms no more than four per cent, of 

 the entire flounder catch. It lives in rather shallow water, the young abounding close to shore, 

 large ones being taken in the gill-nets. Large ones are more abundant at Monterey than farther 

 south. It feeds upon fishes and Crustacea, and in its habits seems very similar to the Eastern P. 

 dentatus. It spawns in early summer, like other large fishes. It is subject to the attacks of the 

 Bag Fish, Bdellostoma Dombeyi. 



As a food-fish, it does not rank very high, the large specimens being tough and coarse 

 eompared to the Halibut, while the young are inferior to most of the species termed " Sole." 



58. THE FIAT FISH, OB, WINTER FLOUNDEE. 



Next in importance to the Plaice comes the Flat Fish, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, or 

 Common Flounder, sometimes called the " Winter Flounder," said to be known in Massachu- 

 setts Bay as Mud-dab, and occasionally to be sold in New York under the name of Sole. This 

 fish, like the Plaice, belongs to a genus unknown to Europe, but is closely related to the common 

 Flounder, or Fluke, of the British coast. Its range is somewhat extensive, and in a certain 

 degree it replaces the Plaice along our northern coast. It has not been observed south of Chesa- 

 peake Bay, but northward is common in the Bay of Fundy, on the eastern shores of Nova Scotia, 

 and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and, as far as observations have been made, upon the coast of 

 Labrador. 



Storer, writing in 1849, remarks: "It is probably the most common Flounder on the southwest 

 coast of Labrador ; we met with it first, though but sparingly, at the Saint Mary's Island, and 

 observed it as far easterly as Bras d'Or, where it is to be found in immense numbers, the bottom 

 being almost alive with them, and of large size." 



Flat Fish are always upon the bottom, feeding chiefly upon minute shells, such as Nucula and 

 Bulla, upon young crabs, or whatever they can find among the stones in the mud. Their mouths 

 are very small, and since they would be unable to seize and kill other fish, they never come 

 to the surface in pursuit of prey, as do the large-mouthed Flounders. They prefer sheltered bays 

 and harbors, and appear to be equally abundant on the bottmns of the sand, mud, or rock; when 

 at rest, they are usually partially embedded in the mud or sand at the bottom. I have observed 

 that, when they come to a stop, they always settle themselves by convulsive motions of the fins 

 and body, which has the effect of pushing them down into the soft bottom. This species is 

 probably a more permanent resident of the localities which it inhabits than any other on our coast, 



