PLEURONECTID^l IN GENERAL. 313 



volumes, which the reader would do well to consult. 

 The manners of all these fish, as well as of the soles, 

 appear to he much the same. They keep close to the 

 bottoms, generally choosing such as are sandy ; here, 

 partially covered by the surrounding sand or soil, which, 

 by the peculiar shape and construction of their fins, they 

 are enabled to throw about them, these fishes lie in 

 ambush, watching for any prey which may come within 

 range of a sudden dart : at other times, however, these 

 sedentary habits are laid aside, and they shift their 

 hunting grounds, often in large shoals, when one sort of 

 food is exhausted, and another is sought for. Mr. Yarrell 

 observes, no doubt from good authority, if not his own, 

 that, when near the ground, the plaice (Platessa vulgaris 

 Cuv.) swim slowly, maintaining their horizontal position ; 

 but, when suddenly disturbed, they sometimes make a 

 rapid shoot — changing their position from horizontal to 

 vertical : if the observer happens to be opposite the 

 white side, they may be seen to pass with the rapidity 

 and flash of a meteor; but they soon sink down, resum- 

 ing their previous motionless horizontal position, and are 

 then not distinguished any more than the rest of the family, 

 owing to their great similarity in colour to the surface 

 on which they rest. The food of the flat fish is exclu- 

 sively of an animal nature ; but as their mouth is of 

 moderate size, and their teeth small, the things they feed 

 upon are of proportionate dimensions : young fish and 

 crabs, small and soft molluscous and radiated animals, 

 are what are generally found in their stomachs. 



(262.) The resemblance between the colours of the 

 flat fish, in general, to those of the ground they repose 

 upon, is so admirably ordered, as to claim both atten- 

 tion and admiration. The upper surface, or that which 

 is exposed to view and to the action of the light, is inva- 

 riably of some shade of earthen brown, or of greyish 

 sand colour ; this is broken by dots and blotches, either 

 light or dark, blackish or reddish, but always so disposed 

 as perfectly to resemble those under-shades, as they may 

 be called, which are caused by the inequalities of the 



