SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
376 
enters the Sound, though there, as well as in the Belts, it 
is one of the rarer Flatfishes (Wintiiee). In the south of 
the Baltic off Abekas, it is sometimes taken in autumn, 
in Eel-pots, according to Nilsson. On the German side 
it is taken, though also seldom, as far as the coast of 
Mecklenburg (Mob., Hcke). Higher up the Baltic we 
have no authenticated instance of its occurrence, though 
it is by no means averse to brackish or fresh water. Ac- 
cording to Collett its range on the coast of Norway is 
not known to extend further north than Stadt, in Lat. 
62° N. In Scandinavia, however, only individual speci- 
mens are taken, and the species never occurs in shoals". 
The fishermen too, often confuse it with Drepanopsetta 
platessoides, which in some localities is called tunga. Off 
the Skaw it is more common than in Sweden; and most 
of the Soles brought to Gothenburg are said to come 
from the Skaw (Malm). Even there, however, the Sole- 
fishery is far less important than it is farther south. 
The fishermen of Fredrikshavn, in Krgyer’s time, about 
1840, used generally to hand over their catch of soles to 
the dealers without payment, as a kind of return for the 
spirits and tobacco given them when they came on board 
to deliver their fish; and the Sole and some other species 
were, therefore, comprised under the name of brandy -fish. 
Even in the vicinity of Fredrikshavn, however, the trade 
in fish is now carried on on far different principles; and 
the Danish fishery in the Cattegat, inside the Skaw, in 
1885 for example, produced Soles to a value of <£4,430 
(79,788 crowns) 6 . This sum is infinitesimally small, how- 
ever, in comparison with the results of the Sole fishery 
in the North Sea and on the coasts of Great Britain. Ac- 
cording to the statistical reports for the year 1888 the 
Sole fishery of England and Wales' produced fish to a 
weight of 72,826 cwt. and a value of £378,538. The 
catch for the same year in Scotland d was 12,664 cwt., of 
a value of £16,512, and in Ireland 3,731 cwt., of a 
value of £ 11,383. Thus, the total value of the Sole- 
fisheries of Great Britain and Ireland for the year 1888 
was £406,433. The geographical range of the Sole 
also extends into the Mediterranean and the Adriatic: 
off Venice it is very common, according to NinnP. 
In habits the Sole essentially resembles the rest of 
the Flatfishes. It is really a salt-water fish; but like 
many other members of its family it often makes its 
way into fresh water, where it is even capable of breed- 
ing, according to statements from England. Yarrell 
states, on the authority of a letter from one of his cor- 
respondents, that the Sole frequents the river Arun from 
the mouth live miles upwards, and remains there the 
whole year. “It is evident they breed in great numbers 
in the river from the quantity of small ones about two 
inches long that are constantly brought on shore when 
drawing the net for Grey Mullet.” The Soles that live 
in fresh water, are also stated to be thicker (more fleshy) 
than those from the sea. 
During summer the Sole lives in water of a moder- 
ate depth, on a sandy or stony bottom, but in winter 
it retires to deeper water, and does so earlier than the 
rest of the Scandinavian Flatfishes. “When the winter 
season comes on,” says Buckland, “the soles in the North 
Sea take up their winter quarters (probably for hybern- 
ating purposes) in very deep water. The chief resort 
of soles in the winter months is the Silver Pits, a very 
extensive piece of deep water situated between the Dog- 
ger Bank and the Well Bank. The greatest depth is to be 
found at the west end, where there is fifty-six fathoms of 
water, i. e. 134 feet higher than the Monument. The 
soundings brought up from here resemble biscuit dust. 
The Silver Pits (first discovered, I believe, in 1843) are so 
called on account of the large quantity offish which were 
caught when the pits were first discovered. Soles massed 
themselves together in these pits in a wondrous way, 
and fabulous stories are told of the sole fishery there 7 . ” 
According to the statements of the fishermen, the 
spawning-season of the Sole occurs during the summer 
months, at the end of May or beginning of June. Its 
food is composed chiefly of small crustaceans, mollusks 
and fishes. It is also said to devour the roe of other 
fishes. 
In Scandinavia the Sole is generally caught with 
other Flatfish in nets shot for Plaice. On rare oc- 
casions it is taken on the hook. The large catches in 
a Kr0YEK states, however, that at the beginning of this century three boats from Gilleleje, which had shot their nets off Hesselo, 
north of Zealand, took 1,600 Soles at one haul. 
b Dansk Fiskeriselskabs Medlemsblad, 10:e Juni, 188G, p. 82. 
c Fish Trades Gazette, vol. VI, No. 295, p. 8. 
d Ibid., No. 297, p. 8. In this total, however, the Lemon Sole, a closely related, but less valuable species, is included. 
e Espos. Intern, di Pesca in Berlino 1880, Sez. Ital ., Cat., p. 180. 
f Cf. too Holdsworth, Deep-Sea Fishing and Fishing Boats, London 1874, p. 94. 
