226 
The Hifiory c/ANIMALS. 
PLEURONECTES. 
TPHE eyes of the Pleurone&es are both placed on one fide of the head, and this 
JL is fometimes the right, fometimes the left fide : one fide of the fifh is always 
white, the other varioufly coloured or obfcure : the branchioftege membrane contains 
on each fide fix bones; they are of a cylindric figure, and in the lower part, in the 
middle between thefe, there is another pair; thefe are concreted together, and are 
fcarce. confpicuous: the eyes are ufually fituated in the right fide of the head, and 
there is, in fome fpines, a fhort fpine at the anus. 
PleuroneEies oculis> et iyberculis fiex a dextra capitis , lateri- 
bus glabris , Jpina ad anum . 
The PleuroneEies , with fix tubercles on the right fde of the 
head\ and a fpine at the anus . 
The head and the body are both flatted and deprefled, and the fides are very com- 
prefled and thin : the back and the belly, immediately under the head, are aflurgent 
and acute : the mouth is fmall, and obliquely fituated, with refpedt to the back: the 
lower jaw is a little longer than the upper; there is a fingle row of obtufe teeth in 
each jaw; in the upper part of the fauces there are alfo two bones, covered with the 
fame kind of Ihort, obtufe, and granulous teeth, and each confifting of three parts; 
there are three other fmall bones alfo on the lower part, furnished with teeth in the 
fame manner ; but the whole palate and tongue are fmooth: the noftrils are fituated 
jufl: before the eyes; they have each two apertures, and the anterior one has it’s valve : 
the eyes ftand both on the right fide of the head j they are very near one another, and 
fcarce protuberant at all: there are fix bony tubercles between the eyes and the late¬ 
ral line on the right fide ; they are arranged in a ftraight line, and the fifth, from the 
eye, is the largeft: the lateral line is nearly ftraight, and divides the body into two: 
the whole body is fmooth ; there are, indeed, fcales on the fides and on the head, but 
they are very fmall, and adhere extreamly firmly : the right fide of the fifti is brown, 
and is elegantly variegated with round, bright, red fpots ■, the back fin and the pinna 
ani are alfo, in the fame manner, fpotted with red : the left fide is entirely white j this 
is what we ufually call the belly of the fifh. 
There is only one fin on the back, but this reaches the whole length of it, from the 
eye to the tail; it has feventy-fix or feventy-feven rays : the pe&oral fins are placed on 
the fides below the lateral line $ they have twelve rays each : the ventral fins are placed 
immediately under the pe&oral ones, or a little more anteriorly j they have each fix 
rays: at the beginning of the pinna ani there is a robuft, thick, and acute fpine bent 
forwards j the pinna ani itfelf is very long, and is extended nearly to the tail; it has 
fifty-five rays: the tail is oblong, and is not exactly even at the extremity, but the 
middle is fomewhat longer than the reft; it has twenty rays : the branchiae are four 
on each fide y the vertebras are forty-three, the ribs thirteen. 
We have this in our large rivers toward the fea, and about the fea-coafts in many 
other places. Athenasus calls it ftra, Cuba ; and fome others, Plais. Bellonius, 
Ray, and Willughby, Platefia; Aldrovand and Johnfon, Pafler lasvis; Rondeletius, 
Quadratulus and Paiferis alia ipecies. We call it a Plaife, and the Germans, a Pladife 
and a Scholle. 
PleuroneEies oculis a dextra, linea laterali afpera, fpinulis 
fupine ad radices pinnarum. Zlft 
The PleuroneEies , with the eyes on the right fide , the lateral jflCfiiftKf** - 
line rough , and fpinules at the fins . 
This is in general a lmaller fifh than the plaife, though in fome places it grows to a 
tolerable fize , with us it’s general ftandard is about feven inches : the head is fmall; 
the mouth is narrow, and the teeth obtufe : the lower jaw is a little longer than the 
upper, and each has a fingle row of teeth : the eyes protuberate very much; they are 
fituated on the right fide of the head : the right fide of the body is of a dufky olive 
brown, 
