198 FISHES. MALACOPTERYGIOUS. Platessa. 
fins not reaching so closely to the tail. D. 68, A. 53, C. 16. According to Mr 
Hanmer, its flesh is inferior to the sole ; and he adds, it is common in the 
spring, upon the coast, near Plymouth, 
Gen. XLVIII. PLATESSA. Fluke.— A row of obtuse 
cutting teeth in each jaw. A spine at the beginning of the 
anal fin. Tail rounded. 
103. P. vulgaris. Plaise. — Body smooth. A row of six 
tubercles on the head. 
Passer aureus, Merr. Pin. 187. Sihb. Scot. 24. — Passer Bellonii, Will. Ich. 
96.— .Pleuronectes Platessa, Linn. Syst. i. 456. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 
228. — Fluke, Dutch Plaise — Common. 
Length about a foot. Above olivaceous, with reddish spots; beneath? 
white. Scales small, impressed, and adherent. Mouth small ; lower jaw long- 
est. D. 72, P. 11, V. 6, A. 54 — Spawns in February. 
104. P. Flesus. Flounder. — • Body smooth. A band of 
small sharp spines on the side line, and at the junction of the 
dorsal and anal fins with the body. 
Passer niger, Merr. Pin, 187* — Laevis, Sihb. Scot. 24. — P. fluviatilis. 
Will. Ich. 98. — Pleuronectes linea lateral! aspera, spinulis ad radices 
pinnarum in latere oculato. Artedi, Ich. Desc. 59.— PI. Flesus, Linn. 
Syst. i. 457. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 229. — S, Mayock-fleuk. — Common. 
Length about a foot. Colour olivaceous, occasionally marbled with brown, 
sometimes whitish, yellowish, or rosy. Scales very small, adherent. Lateral 
line elevated and denticulated on the head ; and bent over the gills. Mouth 
small. D. 60, P. 12, V. 6, A. 42, C. 18 — This species is more frequently to be 
met with at the mouths of rivers than any of the genus. A sinistral variety 
sometimes occurs. 
105. P. Limanda. Dab. — Scales, with ciliated margins. 
Passer asper, Will. Ich. 97 — Pleuronectes squamis asperis; spina ad 
anum, Art. Ich. Desc. 58 — Pleur. Limanda, Linn. Syst. i. 457. Penn. 
Brit. Zool. iii. 230 — 5', Saltie. — Common. 
Length seldom reaching to a foot. Colour above brownish, frequently with 
darker clouds. Scales large. Mouth wide. D. 73,®P. 11, V. 6, A. 63, C. 15. 
— In season for the table in spring. Spawns in May. 
106. P. microceplialus. — Body oblong. Head small. Mouth 
diminutive. Lateral line a little incurvated. 
Smear Dab, Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 230 — Pleuronectes microcephalus, Don- 
Brit. Fishes, t. Ixii — Sand-fleiik, Neill., Wern. Mem. i. 537. 
Length about a foot. Colour above, dusky -brown ; beneath, white. Lips 
protruded. Scales small, smooth. Lateral line a little incurvated over the 
pectoral fin. D. 90, P. 7, V. 6, A. 73, C. 17- The Smear-Dab of Pennant ap- 
pears, from the description, to be similar to the P. microcephalus of Donovan ; 
but the figure of the former author, differs, in all its characters, from the one 
given by the latter. It may be stated, that, in the last edition of the British 
Zoology, the original figure of the Smear-Dab is suppressed ; while a new re- 
presentation of a fish under the same title is given, which bears little resem- 
blance to the former, while it makes a near approximation, in the shape of 
the head, to Donovan’s figure. In shape, the original figure of the Smear- 
Dab in the Brit. Zool. t. Ixi. resembles the Pleuronectes punctatus. 
