HALIBUT ; FLAT-FISH AND FLOUNDER . 
3*5 
in the New York market and about Cape Cod, although it has never been 
recognized by those who have written books on American fishes. The 
fishermen of the St. John’s River also use the name Plaice, but whether 
for this species has not been determined. In Connecticut, North Caro¬ 
lina, and in Florida, east and west, as well as on other parts of the coast, 
the names Flounder and Common Flounder are current. In New York 
and New England the name Summer Flounder is also frequently heard. 
In Rhode Island the names “ Brail” and “ Puckermouth ” are used, the 
former doubtless a modification of the English name “ Brill,” while on the 
bills of fare in Boston and New York hotels it is often called the “ Deep-sea 
Flounder,” especially since the Pole Flounder has been brought to notice by 
the Fish Commission, and has obtained a reputation as a delicious table 
fish. Fishermen sometimes mistake them for young Halibut, and they 
doubtless at times are sold under the name of “ Chicken Halibut.” Tur¬ 
bot Flounder is another name which has been suggested, but, upon the 
whole, Plaice seems most desirable for general adoption. 
This fish is abundant upon the eastern coast of the United States from 
Cape Cod to Cape Florida, and according to Mr. Steam’s report is also 
found along the entire Gulf coast. Southward, its range extends at least 
as far as Paraguay. To the northward it barely rounds Cape Cod. Capt. 
Atwood remembers that in the first half of the present century great 
quantities of Plaice were found inside the Point at Provincetown. They 
were so numerous that in one afternoon he caught two thousand pounds. 
They are now only occasionally taken, and have not recently been seen 
north of Provincetown, though Storer has recorded their occurrence at 
Wellfleet. Capt. Atwood attributes their disappearance, which was nearly 
simultaneous with the advent of the blue fish, to the fact that blue fish de¬ 
stroyed their favorite food, the squid, and rendered it impossible for them 
to live longer in these waters. The Plaice has been much less abundant 
in Cape Cod Bay within the last thirty years, but there is no evidence of 
considerable diminution in numbers elsewhere. On the eastern coast of 
Connecticut and Long Island, where the Plaice fishery is most extensively 
prosecuted, it is the opinion of experienced fishermen that no change in 
numbers has been perceptible within the last thirty years. The Connecti¬ 
cut fishermen say that they are frequently so abundant that they have only 
to throw out and pull in their lines, catching “ all they choose,” while the 
bottom seems to be carpeted with them. 
