HOLIBUT. r 295 



reversed 3 but such instances must be considered as 

 extremely rare*. 



With eyes toxvards the right. 



HOLIBUT. 



Pleuronectes Hippoglossus. P. corpore elongato glabro, supra 



fusco, subtus albido. 

 Flounder with lengthened smooth body, brown above, and 



white beneath. 



P. Hippoglossus. P. oculis dextris, corpore toto glabro, Lin. 



Syst. Nat. p. 456\ 

 P. pinna caudali lunulata. Block, t. 47. 

 Holibut. Will p. 99. t. F. 6. Venn. brit. zool 3. 



This species not only exceeds in size all the rest 

 of the present genus, but may even be considered 

 as one of the largest of fishes ; having been some- 

 times found of the weight of three, and even, ac- 

 cording to some accounts, four hundred pounds : it 

 is a native of the Mediterranean and Northern 

 seas, and appears to arrive at its greatest size in 

 the latter : it is considered as the most voracious 

 of its tribe ; preying on a variety of other fishes as 

 well as on different kinds of crabs, shell-fish, &c. 

 The Holibut is of a longer or more slender form 

 than most other flat-fish : its colour is deep brown 

 above, and white beneath; the body being quite 

 smooth, and covered with moderately small scales : 

 as a food it is considered as very coarse in com- 



* A deviation of this kind sometimes takes place in the uni- 

 valve shells. 



