PLEURONECTIDJE. 



Genus II — Hippoglossoides, Gottsche. 



Branchiostegals eight : pseudobranchice present. Eyes on the right side. Cleft of 

 mouth deep. Pointed teeth in a single row in the jaws, none on the palate. The 

 dorsal fin commences above the upper eye, its rays, as well as those of the anal, 

 tmbranched. Scales small and ctenoid, a row along each dorsal and anal ray. 

 Lateral-line tvithout any curve anteriorly. 



Geographical distribution. — Coasts of the northern seas of Europe, extending 

 to and around the British Isles. Also found on the Atlantic shores ,of America. 



1. Hippoglossoides limandoides, Plate XCV. 



Pleuronectes limandoides, Bloch. t. clxxxvi ; Bl. Schn. p. 146 ; Gmel Linn, 

 p. 1232 ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 76, pi. xc, f. 374 ; Lacep. iv, p. 635 ; Shaw, Zool. 

 iv, p. 300 ; Faber, Isis, 1828, p. 878 ; Nilss. Skan. Fauna, iv, p. 629 ; Schlegel, 

 Diereu Neder. p. 171. 



Pleuronectes linguatula, Mull. Prod. p. 377. 



Hippoglossoides limanda, Gottsche, Wiegm. Arch. 1835, p. 168. 



Pleuronectes limandanus, Parnell, Edin. New Phil. Journal, 1835, p. 210. 



Platessa limandoides, Parnell, Wern. Mem. vii, p. 368, t. xxxviii, and Fish. Firth 

 of Forth, p. 208, t. xxxviii ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 224, c. fig. (Ed. 2) 

 ii, p. 312 (Ed. 3) i. p. 625 ; Jenyns, Man. p. 459 ; Johnston, Berw. Nat. Field 

 Club, 1838, i, p. 174 ; Fries och Eks. Skand. Fisk. p. 117, pi. xxvii ; Kroyer, Dan. 

 Fiske, ii, p. 358, c. fig. ; White, Catal. p. 101. 



Hippoglossoides limandoides, Giinther, Catal. iv, p. 405 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, 

 p. 136 ; Malm, p. 509 ; Winther, Ich. Dan. Mar. p. 37. 



Pleuronectes limandoides, Malmg. Wieg. Arch. 1864, p. 293. 



Long rough dab, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iii, p. 153, plate clx. 



B. viii, D. 76-87, P. 10, V. 6, A. 60-69, C. 14-16, L. 1. 85-95, Ccec. pyl. 4, 

 Vert. 45. 



Length of head 4f to 5, of caudal fin 6, height of body 3 to 3 j in the total length. 

 Eyes — divided by a narrow but scaled ridge, diameter about 1/4 of the length of 

 the head and nearly 1 diameter from the end of the snout. The anterior margin of 

 each eye is on the same vertical line. Cleft of mouth deep, the maxilla equals 

 nearly half the length of the head, and reaches posteriorly to beneath the middle 

 of the orbit, the lower jaw the longer. Teeth — pointed, the anterior being the 

 longest, the front ones are placed somewhat distantly apart and in one row in each 

 jaw. Gill-rahers — about 1/2 as long as the diameter of the orbit and placed 

 somewhat distantly apart. Fins — the dorsal commences above the first third of 

 the upper eye, but is not continued as far as the base of the caudal fin, its 

 rays are simple, the longest being equal to about three times the height of the 

 body below them, and are situated about midway between the hind edge of 

 the head and the base of the caudal fin. Right pectoral nearly half the length 

 of the head, its rays simple. Bight ventral, inserted anterior to the base of the 

 pectoral, consisting of six rays, it is two-thirds as long as the pectoral but does 

 not extend quite to the base of the anal, which latter fin has a short spine directed 

 forwards at its base,* just where it commences on a vertical line beneath the 

 middle of the pectoral : it ends similarly to the dorsal : its highest rays are 

 slightly below the centre of its length and are similar to those of the dorsal fin. 

 Caudal wedge-shaped, its central rays being slightly the longest ; they are 

 bifurcated at their extremity. Free portion of the tail two-thirds as long as high. 

 Scales — ctenoid covering head, including jaws and body as well as a row on each 



* Dr. Giinther says that in this species there is " no spine beforo the anal fin." Parnell 

 recorded its existence in the examples now in the national collection, and I _ find one most distinct in 

 my specimens. But it must not be forgotten that the British Museum specimens were only dried 

 skius. 



