PLATE XC. 
alive when he perceived it, and particularly attracted his attention hj 
being inveloped in a froth similar to that occasioned by the larva of the 
Cicada in which they conceal themselves on the leaves of plants, oi 
what is generally denonimated the Cuckow-spit . — Captain Merrick 
had the curiosity to preserve this little acquisition in spirits, and 
in our visit to that part of the Island some time ago very libe- 
rally favoured us with the fish, and the above particulars relative 
to its capture. — We are the more minute in stating those circum- 
stances as we consider it as a new fish, and not merely so as an inha- 
bitant of the British Seas, but as a species of Pleuronectes. 
Neither Linn$us, Gmelin, Bloch, Laccpede, or any other of the 
Ichthyological writers within our knowledge mention any species 
that can apply to the present. Tire specimen in our possession is 
'small, the figures in the annexed plate which exhibit both the supe- 
rior and lower surface being enlarged to admit of greater accuracy in 
delineation. The fish is an inch and three eighths in length, measuring 
from the tip of the jaw to the extremity of the tail : in other respects 
those figures convey a correct idea of the species. 
- It Is highly probable this fish has by no means attained to its ordi- 
nary magnitude, the smallness of its size suggests that it is rather 
the young of some larger species, than a fish arrived at full matu- 
rity. This cannot Indeed be adduced witli any certainty of a species 
with which we are unacquainted except from one solitary specimen. 
As a species we can speak with more decision, notwithstanding its 
diminuteness, for it is sufiiciently ascertained that fishes, unlike manf 
other prpductions of the animal kingdom, receive in their first forma- 
tion the figure of the parent brood so completely that from the smallest 
to those of the largest size, the naturalist has little difficulty in tracing 
