COMMON DAB. 
389 
scales may be found on the hind part of the upper jaw 
and of the branches of the lower jaw. Most of the tin- 
rays, with the exception of the very first and last rays 
of the dorsal and anal fins, and the posterior rays of the 
pectoral and ventral fins, are each furnished with a row 
of scales. On the blind side, however, the operculum, 
preoperculum and interoperculum are for the most part 
naked, as well as the whole of the jaws, the snout, and 
the nasal region up to the beginning of the dorsal fin. 
Most of the fin-rays, too, on this side are without scales, 
with the exception of the caudal fin and the middle part 
of the dorsal and anal fins, where there is one row 
of scales on the inner (proximal) part of each of the 
rays. On this side the ctenoid scales of the body are 
set in patches along the dorsal and ventral margins and 
on each side of the lateral line. 
The coloration of the eye side is yellowish brown, 
with small, dark or brownish, sometimes reddish spots. 
It may be more or less dark, and fades after death, 
when the spots, too, grow indistinct. On the coast of 
Bohuslan, according to Mr. C. A. Hansson", the fol- 
lowing colour- varieties occur: 
the coloured side dark grayish brown, entirely 
undiversified; 
/?, the coloured side light brown, with more less nu- 
merous, small yellowish spots with a dash of red. 
y, the coloured side clay-gray, shading into brown and 
marked with small, more or less greenish spots. 
“It is stated that variety « occurs on a hard, 
clayey bottom. />' is the commonest, and occurs both 
on sandy and muddy bottoms, while y, on the other hand, 
seems to keep to a sandy bottom. Intermediate forms 
are found, however, between all three varieties.” 
The changes of growth in this species may serve as 
an expression of those of the Flounders in general. The 
most important of them are given in the appended table: 
Pleuronectes limanda. 
From 
Bohuslan. Most of the measurements 
given by Sundevall. 
From Rail 
(Scania). 
From Cim- 
brishamn 
(Scania). 
From 
Wisby. 
Sex. 
c? 
9 
9 
9 
9 
9 
Length of the body to the end of the caudal tin in millimetres 
34 
57 
61 
94 
133 
223 
243 
229 
267 
282 
244 
269 
Length of the head in % of the length of the body to the end of the caudal fin 
23.9 
21.9 
20.5 
22.3 
21.8 
19.7 
19.o 
20.7 
21.9 
20.9 
21.i 
20.8 
»’ - 'll y> 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 ,, ,, JJ 
28.6 
27.i 
24,5 
26.3 
26.4 
24,i 
23.0 
25.2 
26.6 
25.8 
25.4 
25.5 
Greatest depth of the bodv _ „ „ „ ,, ,, ., ,, end „ „ ,, „ 
30. s 
30.7 
31.1 
34.c 
33.9 
37.6 
38.7 
38.4 
38.2 
41.5 
41.8 
40.9 
55 55 55 55 55 55 55 5> 5* *5 55 5 5 55 55 55 ^aSC ,, ,, ,, ,, 
37.5 
36.o 
37.2 
40. o 
41.o 
46.1 
48.0 
46.8 
46.4 
51.2 
50.3 
50. o 
Least 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 ,, ,, ,, 
8.8 
9.i 
8.2 
8.6 
9.o 
8.0 
8.4 
8.3 
8.o 
8.3 
8.8 
9.0 
Longitudinal diam. of the eyes , ,, ,, . n 
6.o 
6.1 
— 
5.3 
5.3 
— 
4.1 
4.8 
5.4 
5.i 
5.o 
4.9 
Postorbital part of the head „ „ ,, „ „ „ ,, „ 
13.5 
12.3 
— 
— 
12.8 
— 
12.2 
12.4 
12.4 
12.2 
12.5 
12.3 
Length of the right pectoral fin ,, „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ . 
— 
9.i 
— 
11.9 
11.2 
13.4 
12.3 
13.5 
13.4 
13.3 
13.7 
13.o 
55 55 55 55 VCIltral ,, ,, ,, „ ,, ,, ,, „ ,, „ ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, „ 
— 
7.o 
6.5 
6.5 
6-4 
7.i 
7.7 
7.8 
8.o 
8.o 
8.6 
7.o 
„ „ ,, „ branch of the lower jaw ., „ „ „ „ „ ., „ ,, „ „ „ 
— 
8.4 
— 
7.5 
7.5 
7.i 
7.3 
7.4 
8.6 
8.o 
7.8 
7.6 
„ „ „ „ „ ,, „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ head 
— 
38.4 
— 
35.o 
34.5 
36.3 
38.5 
35.9 
39.3 
38.i 
36.9 
36.6 
„ „ „ left „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ body to the end of the caudal fin 
8.8 
— 
9.i 
8.6 
8.o 
7.i 
8.o 
8.3 
9.4 
8.3 
8.8 
8.3 
„ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ head . 
38.o 
— 
44.8 
40. o 
36.5 
36.3 
41.7 
40. o 
42.7 
40. o 
41.7 
40.2 
Distance between the anal fin and the tip of the snout in % of the length of the body to the end of the caudal fin 
— 
27.2 
25.7 
30.2 
29.3 
29.i 
27.7 
30.6 
32.9 
32.8 
29.7 
30.8 
Length of the caudal fin. „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ ., „ 
16.4 
17.2 
16.4 
18.4 
17.3 
18.4 
17.6 
17.9 
17.6 
18.9 
17.0 
18.2 
Ohs. With regard to the young specimens in this table Sunde- j 
vall observes: In the fourth (94 mm. in length) the teeth are in form 
and position like those of the largest specimen from Bohuslan. In the 
two smallest (34 and 57 mm. in length) the scales are apparently 
rather more rounded at the tip, and are furnished with fewer spines, 
than in the full-grown specimens. Their coloration is also fainter and 
more transparent, with more distinct spots, than that of the others; 
and they seem to belong to the fry of the previous year. Young 
specimens less than 25 mm. long are entirely transparent and colour- 
less, with the exception of the eyes and the skeleton. 
In spite of the fact that these measurements cannot 
be absolutely accurate, several of those in the first co- 
lumns being derived from the observations of different 
persons, we may still draw from them the following 
rules, subject, it is true, to individual variations that are 
sometimes considerable. The relative length of the head 
decreases with age, the greatest depth of the body in- 
creases, while the least relative depth'' remains almost 
the same, the relative size of the eyes diminishes, as 
well as the relative length of the postorbital part of the 
head, which in older specimens, however, is remarkably 
constant, but the length of the fins, on the other hand, 
“ By letter. 
6 According to Kroyer the least depth of the body is, as a rule, nearly 10 % of the length thereof, and thus greater than it is 
given in our measurements. 
