382 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
and anal fins, as well as in the outer half of the caudal 
fin and in the pectoral fin of the eye side, the fin- 
membrane 'was black, and the tips of the rays of the 
dorsal and anal fins were yellowish white. The hind 
part of the branch iostegal membrane was black, the 
pupil blackish blue, the iris golden. The blind side of 
the fish was white, finely punctated with black dots. 
The museum-specimens preserved in spirits generally 
acquire the darker brown colour shown in Valenciennes’ 
figure in Gaimard (1. c.). 
The range of the Pole in the Atlantic is extensive. 
The species is known from the extreme north of Nor- 
way and from Iceland to the vicinity of Carolina (N. 
America) and the Avest coast of France. In addition 
to this Avide geographical range it also has an extensive 
bathymetric distribution, for it lives in water of a 
depth varying from about 10 to 730 fathoms". The 
advanced development of the muciferous cavities in the 
head is also, Ave need hardly say, of ordinary occur- 
rence in deep-sea fishes * 6 . It is, therefore, extremely 
probable that the Pole has its true home in deep Avater, 
and for some reason or other migrates thence to the 
higher marine regions. If this is the case, Ave can easily 
understand Avhy the species is comparatively rare in 
Scandinavia. Along the Avhole coast of Bohuslan, how- 
ever, it is taken occasionally, generally in Flounder-nets, 
at a depth of from 10 to 20 fathoms. According to 
Malm it there prefers a soft, grayish, sandy bottom; 
but according to Faber it has received the name of 
Skj arising (cf. the SAvedish name Skarffimdra Rock 
Flounder) of the fishermen of Hirsholm and the Skatv, 
Avhere it is commoner than in Bohuslan, because it is 
generally found on the reefs. Off Kullen, too, according 
to Schagerstrom, it bears this Danish name among the 
fishermen. In the north of the Sound and southwards 
to the neighbourhood of Landskrona it is sometimes 
met Avith, say both Schagerstrom and Winther. It 
has tAvice (in 1875 and 1880) been found in the ex- 
treme Avest of the Baltic (Mobius and Heincke), but is 
unknoAvn further in. It is also said to be unknoAvn on 
the shelving Avest coast of Jutland (Iv royer and Win- 
ther). According to Collett it is caught in Christiania 
Fjord all the year round, but mostly during the autumn 
months, and in Trondhjem Fjord it is stated not to be 
rare. The species Avas found by the Norwegian Arctic 
Expedition in West Fjord at a depth of 150 fathoms, 
on a sandy bottom, Avhere the temperature at the bottom 
Avas 41° Falrr., and in Tana Fjord (East Finmark) at a 
depth of 127 fathoms, on a bottom of mud and clay, 
Avhere the bottom temperature Avas 37° Fahr. According 
to Goode and Bean the corresponding temperature at 
Avhich the Pole has been found on the other side of the 
Atlantic, is betAveen 34° and 45° Fahr. Further south 
on the European side the Pole occurs, though not fre- 
quently, round the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. 
In the English Channel, according to Moreau, it is 
“uncommon" and off Arcachon “extremely rare.” 
The nature of the Pole’s food is shoAvn by its teeth: 
with the jaw-teeth it cuts or tears aAvay its prey from 
the bottom, and Avith the blunt, conical pharyngeals it 
crushes the thin shell of its victim. Pennant found 
small crustaceans and starfish in its stomach, and 
Kroyer small shellfish and Avorms. 
The spaAvning-season of the Pole in England, ac- 
cording to Day, occurs in early summer, in May and 
June; in Scandinavia both Kroyer and Malm found 
females Avith the development of the ovaries so advanced 
at the end of June that the spaAvning-season might be 
expected in August. 
As the Pole is not caught anyAvhere in any con- 
siderable quantity, its preference for deep Avater render- 
ing it difficult to reach Avith nets, Avhile, like the rest 
of the true Flounders, it seldom takes a bait, it is, 
therefore, of no great economical importance 0 . Its flesh, 
hoAvever, is excellent, and thus in many places it bears 
local names that range it by the side of the Sole, to 
Avhich it is also more closely approximated by the form 
of the body than any other of the true Flounders. “It 
is Avithout doubt our most delicious Pleuronectoid,” 
says Malm, “and is usually very fat, a circumstance 
Avhich we should hardly expect from the thinness of its 
body at the edges.” Lilljeborg Avas informed by Mr. 
C. A. Hansson that, on account of its fine flavour, the 
fishermen of Stromstad call it Sockerskadda (Sugar Dab). 
0 Goode and Bean, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harv. Coll., Cambr., vol. X, No. 5, p. 195. 
6 Gunther, Rep. Cliall. Exped ., Deep. Sea Fishes, p. XXVI. 
c In the winter of 1891 — 92 the Pole was sometimes brought from Gothenburg to the fish-market at Stockholm. There it was 
sold under the name of Sole. 
