THE POLE OR 0BAr(5 FLOUIfDEE. 199 



Fish Commission, in the deepest part of Massachusetts Bay. Specimens have since been obtained 

 sonth of Cape Cod, at a depth of one hundred fathoms or more, by the Fish Commission, and by 

 Professor Agassiz, off the entrance to Delaware Bay, at a depth of three hundred and ninety-five 

 fathoms. The Pole Flounder appears to be a perniauent resident, throughout the whole year, in 

 the deep basins of Massachusetts Bay and ou the edge of the continental slope, and is found 

 abundant in Bedford Basin, the inner exi)ansion of Halifax Harbor, at a depth of thirty-seven 

 fathoms. It ranges nearly to Greenland, and is also found on the coast of N"orthern Europe, 

 where it is found in the Trondhjem Fjord, in latitude 65°, and south to the coast of Ireland. Its 

 thermal range appears to be confined by the limits 34° and 45°. 



It breeds abundantly in our waters in summer time, numerous individuals, full of spawn, and 

 young from half an inch upward, having been taken, from July to October, in various localities. 



The Pole Flounder has been pronounced, by all who have tasted it, a most delicious food-fish, 

 resembling more closely than any other species on our coast the English Sole, having a great 

 quantity of peculiarly flavored mucilaginous tissue about the base of the fins; it has never been 

 taken by our fishermen, because, on account of its exceedingly small and weak mouth, it could 

 not hold fast to an ordinary hook and line; and, should it ever come into demand, it will be 

 necessary for our fishermen to introduce the English trawl-net. 



64. THE SPOTTED SAND FLOUNDER. 



The Turbot, or Steinbutt, Rlwmhus maximus, and the Brill, or Clattbutt, do not occur in our 

 waters, although many attempts have been made to prove that they do. The nearest repre- 

 sentative of the Turbot is the Spotted Sand Flounder, Lopliopsetta maculata, a species found from 

 Bucksport, Maine,' to Fort Macon, j^orth Carolina, variously known along the coast as Water 

 Flounder, Window-pane, and Daylight ; the latter name refers to the remarkable thinness of the 

 fish, its flesh being so transparent that, when held to the light, the shadow of an object on the 

 other side can be seen. Its flavor is good, but the amount of flesh is so small that it is of no 

 consequence as a food-fish. There are other smaller representatives of the family on the southern 

 coast, and in deep water from Cape Cod southward, belonging to the genus Citharichthys, which, 

 although edible, are never eaten. 



'According to Mr. G. A. Boardman, of Calais, Maine, an individual was taken in Passamaqnoddy Bay in September, 

 1880. 



