210 
MALACOPTERYGII. 
from a comparison of specimens. Being of opinion that Mr. Jenyns’s descrip- 
tion, so far as taken from the individual before him, related to this species ; and 
that, rather than describe the colours from a specimen preserved in spirits, he 
had copied them from Hanmer’s description of the red-backed flounder, believ- 
ing it the same, though it is in reality a distinct species, I communicated with 
him on the subject, and his reply confirmed my views. The opportunity of 
examining specimens of this latter fish, which Mr. Jenyns had not, but through 
the kindness of Dr. Parnell I have had, could alone have settled this point, the 
describer of it having been silent on such characters as the length of the pectoral 
fins, and number of scales on the lateral line, by which chiefly it is distinguished 
from the present species. 
“ This is, I consider, the Solea parva sive Lingula described and figured by 
Rondeletius, and again repeated in the works of Gesner (lib. iv. p. 669), Aldro- 
vandus (p. 237), and Willughby (p. 102, pi. F. 8, f. 1). With reference to this, 
the following note on three specimens obtained since the publication of my 
paper in the Annals may be here given. Of these, which are from 3 to 3|- inches 
in length, one has the outline of Solea vulgaris ; but the other two differ much 
from it in being narrower, and tapering more towards the tail, thus precisely 
resembling, even to the turn of the caudal fin, the Solea parva sive Lingula as 
represented by these authors : the lateral line too approximates the form given 
in the figure of this species, but in the specimens is placed rather higher on the 
body ; in these it originates considerably above^the middle, and for some way 
slopes gradually downwards, until it takes a course midway between the dorsal 
and ventral profile.* A figure of this fish illustrates Dr. Parnell’s paper before 
referred to in the first volume of the Magazine of Zoology and Botany. 
“ The two localities in which this species has occurred in England are southern : 
at Weymouth in Dorsetshire, whence the single specimen was obtained that 
served for Mr. Jenyns’s description ; and at Brixham on the adjoining coast of 
Devonshire, where, Dr. Parnell informs us, it is taken in the trawl-nets through- 
out the year. In Ireland it has been procured with the trawl or dredge both in 
the North and South ; in the month of August in the open sea off Dundrum, 
County of Down ; in June and October within the entrance to Belfast Bay, and 
at Youghal in the County of Cork. (See Annals, loc. cit.) Of its occurrence in 
Scotland I have not seen any record. This is described to be a Mediterranean 
species. 
“ Spec. char. Mon. linguatulus. — Upper pectoral fin about one-seventh the 
length of head ; scales on lateral line about 70 ; an occasional black ray through- 
out the dorsal and anal fins, this colour not spreading over the adjoining mem- 
brane. 
“ Thus far all seems clear, the British specimens recorded being allocated under 
the two species just treated of, with the exception of Hanmer’s red-backed 
flounder obtained at Plymouth, and Montagu’s specimen from the same locality. 
All that is wanted to fix the species of the first-mentioned is an examination of 
a moderate-sized Mon. variegalus. This Mr. Yarrell possesses ; and now sup- 
plying him with the specimens by which I arrived at the above conclusions, I 
leave this point to be determined in the forthcoming Supplement to his History 
of British Fishes. As all the British Monochiri and Solece are taken on the 
southern coast of England, it signifies little to which of the species Montagu’s 
specimen belonged. 
“ It may not be useless to mention some of the comparative differences between 
Hanmer’s red-backed flounder (of which two specimens, procured by Dr. Par- 
nell at Brixham, f are now before me), the Mon. linguatulus and Mon. variega- 
* These specimens may further be described as of a reddish-brown colour, 
minutely freckled over with a darker shade, and having the roundish spots of 
dark brown and of white on the lateral line and on the body some way inwards 
from the base of the dorsal and anal fins, as had the individuals obtained in J une 
last. See Annals, vol. ii. p. 21. 
f It was between these or similar specimens that Dr. Parnell, calling them 
