2 28 SALT-WATER FISHES 



III. — Group with Eyes on the Left Side 



The following group of flat-fishes differs from the foregoing 

 (and from the soles that follow) in having the eyes (and 

 colour) on the left side. The teeth are equal and similar on 

 both sides of the jaws, and there are also teeth on the vomer. 

 The dorsal fin commences in front of the eyes. 



The Brill [Rhombus * l^vis) is a familiar table fish, though 

 less known, perhaps, and certainly less excellent as food, than 

 the turbot. It resembles the latter in shape, but has a perfectly 

 smooth skin, devoid of tubercles, with small scales almost 

 embedded. The colour is light brown, with mottlings and 

 specklings, but these vanish after death, and the colour 

 also darkens. It grows to approximately the same size as the 

 turbot, the female being larger than the male. A large female 

 measuring 26 in. and a large male of 23 in. are both on 

 record. 



In distribution the brill and turbot agree closely, being 

 warm-water fish, occurring throughout the Mediterranean, but 

 absent from Arctic seas and even rare as far south as Shetland. 



The brill feeds chiefly on fishes, sand-eels being the favourite 

 food, while in the Plymouth district it prefers the pout. 



The spawning-time is from April to June, the brill reaching 

 maturity at a length of 10 or 13 in. The egg, which 

 measures over -^ in., has a single oil-globule. The larva has 

 not been satisfactorily described, though Mcintosh and Master- 

 man give a detailed account of a hybrid between brill and 

 turbot. Raffaele describes pure brill larvae of about f in., still 

 equal-sided, swimming upright, and having dark bands across 

 the body. These bands seem to distinguish larval brill from 

 larval turbot. Cunningham describes young brill hatched in 

 the Plymouth aquarium. One of these, about six months old, 

 measured nearly 3I in. Two were kept until the April 



* Mcintosh and Masterman give preference to the generic name 

 Bothus for Rhombus. 



