SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
42 6 
metry shown by other fishes than the remaining mem- 
bers of the family. The present subfamily shows the 
least degree of asymmetry in the structure of the mouth, 
but, on the other hand, has advanced furthest in the 
asymmetry of the fins. The ventral fins, in the first 
place, are removed towards the blind side so far that 
the ventral fin of the eye side acquires the appearance 
of an anterior anal fin, a peculiarity which also occurs 
in some of the members of the subfamily of the Soles. 
But, in addition to this, the posterior parts of the dorsal 
and anal fins are generally drawn over towards the 
blind side so far that their terminations on this side 
are closely approximated to each other in front of the 
caudal fin. In the position of the eyes too, some of 
these forms (a part of the genus Platophrys ) attain the 
highest degree of asymmetry, the wandering eye finally 
taking its place so far back and so high up that it 
seems externally to belong to the occipital region. The 
direction of the asymmetry in this subfamily may thus 
be said to be opposite to the direction of that which 
determines the structure of the Soles. 
Among the peculiarities of the skeleton the struc- 
ture of the pelvic bones first calls for attention. These 
bones are partly- — in Bothus rhombus for example — 
of the same shape and position as in the symmetrical 
fishes, with the exception of the circumstance that they 
hang downwards from their point of suspension from 
the clavicular bones. They are stiletto-like, of an ob- 
long triangular shape, at the superior (originally the 
anterior) end curved and tubular, with the narrow side 
(the base) set transversely across the body; and in the 
species mentioned the outer exterior corner forms a 
spinous process. But each of these bones sends out, in 
a forward direction, from the lower part of the outer 
side, a thin, narrow, triangular, osseous disk (pointed 
in front), which is set vertically in the longitudinal 
direction of the body (horizontally when the body is 
in its usual position), and which follows the ventral 
margin, under the posterior (lower), forward prong of 
the urohyoid (basibranehiostegal) bone, but is united 
to this bone solely by ligaments. The outer surface of 
this osseous disk represents the upper (posterior or 
inner) surface, and its anterior point the hind (lower), 
exterior corner, of the pelvic bones of ordinary fishes. 
a + Hemirliombus + Anticitharus. 
0 + Arnoglossus. 
c According to Gunther’s description the eyes are set on the ] 
to his figure this genus is dextral. 
The six ventral rays, which are more or less apart from 
each other, articulate with the under surface of this 
disk, their outer side thus corresponding to the upper 
(inner) side of the rays of the ventral fins in ordinary 
fishes. Another peculiarity which distinguishes the ske- 
leton of these fishes from that of the preceding sub- 
family, is that the caudal vertebrae are furnished with 
comparatively well-developed transverse processes. 
A characteristic of most, of these forms — ■ though 
it also occurs in the preceding subfamily, in the genus 
Pseudorhombus for example — lies in the shape of the 
pupil. On its inner side (in the lower eye the upper 
side, in the upper eye the lower) the iris forms a semi- 
circular or quadrangular process, which thus hides a 
part of the pupil. 
Almost all these forms — the genera Mancopsetta 
(from the Indian Ocean off Prince Edward Island), 
Citharus (from the Mediterranean), Citharichthys a (from 
the tropical parts of the Atlantic, Australia, and the 
west coast of North America), Platophrys 6 (from the 
Temperate and Tropical seas all round the world), 
Bothus , Lepidorhombus, and Scopthahnus (from the At- 
lantic and the Mediterranean), as well as Zeugopterus 
(from the Atlantic coast of north-western Europe) — 
are sinistra!. Only the Chinese genus Samaris, which 
is remarkable in many other respects, has the eyes on 
the right side of the body 0 . The vent usually lies on 
the blind side, but the anal papilla in most cases on 
the eye side, and often even above the ventral fin of 
this side. In all these forms the dorsal fin begins in 
front of the eves, on the bridge of the snout or the 
blind side thereof. 
The forms of this subfamily that belong to the 
Scandinavian fauna may be distinguished as follows: 
A: Jaw-teeth set in a single or 
double row. Branchiostegal 
membranes united interiorly 
in a straight line with each 
other. 
Genus Platophrys: Jaw-teeth 
of uniform size (no ca- 
nines); vomer toothless. 
Subgenus Arnoglossus: Sca- 
les middle-sized and de- 
ciduous Platophrys ( Arnoglossus ) laterna. 
B: Jaw-teeth set in several rows, 
cardiform. Branchiostegal 
o 
side of the body in Lophonectes, from Port Jackson; but according 
