TURBOT. 
papilla, lies on the eye side, just opposite the vent. 
The ventral tins are especially remarkable for the length 
of their base, in which respect the ventral tin of the 
eye side far surpasses that of the blind side. The length 
of the base of the former, which as a rule increases 
even relatively with age, varies between about 10 1 / 2 and 
1 2 % of the length of the body, while in the case of the 
latter tin, in the specimens we have examined, this 
proportion is only 8 — 10 %. The height (longest ray) 
of these fins (the 4th or 5th) is almost the same in each 
case, relatively diminishing during the growth of the 
fish from about 8 % to about GV 2 % of the length of 
the body. The first ray, which is the shortest, is. simple, 
the others, up to the 4th or 5th inclusive, gradually 
increase in length, as well as in the distinctness of the 
ramification, and the hindmost ray, which is somewhat 
shorter than the 5th, is also branched to about half its 
length". In young specimens and in the males we have 
examined, the ventral tin of the eye side thus occupies 
the whole space at the ventral margin between the be- 
ginning of the anal tin and the lower anterior end of 
the urohyoid bone — which in its natural position lies 
just behind the articulations of the lower jaw. In the 
older females we have examined, on the other hand, the 
beginning of the anal tin has retired somewhat further 
back, simultaneously with the increase in the depth of 
the body. The pectoral tins are inserted in an obliquely 
vertical position, just below the middle of the depth of 
the body. The pectoral tin of the eye side is obliquely 
rounded, the 4th ray being the longest; while that of 
the blind side is more evenly brought to a blunt point, 
the 5th and 6th rays being the longest. The first ray 
is simple, the other 11 (or sometimes 10) are more or 
less distinctly and deeply branched. The length of the 
pectoral tin of the eye side varies between about 1 2 1 / 2 
or (in the males) 13 % and 11 % of the length of the 
body; while the pectoral tin of the blind side is somewhat 
shorter, its length varying between 11 or 1 2 % and 9 % 
of the length of the body. The caudal tin is of a 
rounded, truncate shape. Its length at the middle is 
about 20 — 17 % of that of the body. In all the spe- 
cimens we have examined the number of rays in this 
tin has been 2 + 13 + 2. 
In this species the scales are in great part trans- 
formed into spinous tubercles scattered over the surface 
4 37 
of the body or arranged in irregular, longitudinal rows. 
The tubercles of the eye side seem generally to be 
stronger and denser than those of the blind side, which 
is sometimes entirely without them. They are most 
closely set but smallest on the head, especially round 
the eyes, on the interorbital space, in a band-shaped 
patch from this point to the upper corner of the 
gill-openings, on the margin of the preoperculum — 
sometimes on the operculum, suboperculum and inter- 
operculum also — and on the broad part of the ma- 
xillary bones. The spines on the branches of the 
lower jaw are also small but rather more scattered. 
Even on the lower (proximal) parts of the rays of the 
dorsal fin and the upper (proximal) parts of those of 
the anal fin similar spinous tubercles may be found; 
and on the rays of the caudal fin they often extend out 
beyond the middle. The variability in their occurrence 
is, however, considerable. We have found them largest 
and densest in a female 32 cm. long from the island- 
belt of Stockholm, most scattered in a female 53 cm. 
long from Bohuslan, though from this no rule can be 
deduced. In typical Turbots they are never so large 
as the eyes, but Pallas 6 and Nordmann c describe a 
Black Sea variety of this species, Both us mceoticus, with 
spinous tubercles as broad at the base as the eyes or 
even broader. In form the spinous tubercles are more 
or less angular or round disks, with the spine at their 
middle. On the disk we find partly radiating grooves 
and fissures and partly concentric striae, just as on or- 
dinary scales. In the skin between these spinous tu- 
bercles we find shallow and, in most cases, distinctly 
bounded scale-sacs (follicles); but these sacs never con- 
tain any distinct scaly formation in typical Turbots. 
The system of the lateral line generally resembles 
that of the rest of the Flatfishes in its extension over 
the head and body. The lateral line proper forms a 
sharp curve above the pectoral fin, but from this point 
runs straight back at the middle of the sides. In the 
curved part we have found from 28 to 33 opening- 
ducts, in the straight part from 48 — 52. Sometimes, 
however, on the blind side, we meet with a singular 
duplication of the lateral line. On this side, at the 
division between the curved and straight parts, it may 
either run upwards in an acute angle towards the back, 
and be continued from the apex of the angle by a 
a According to KR0YER down to the very base. 
h ZoograpMa Rosso- Asiaiica, part. Ill, p. 419. 
c Voy. Russ. Mir., Demidoff, Poiss ., p. 534, tab. 28, fig. 2, tab. 29 et 30. 
