Gen. LAMBDOPSETTA Smith and Pope. 1906. Smith and Pope, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. xxxi, p. 496. Eyes rather large, narrowly separated by the interorbital ridge. Mouth small, teeth fine, mostly on blind side. Gill-rakers small, triangular. Dorsal originating over anterior margin of upper eye, the first 2 rays separate. Left ventral median, long-based, right with shorter base. Pectorals more or less unequal. Scales moderate, cycloid. Lateral line on both sides, with an angular bend in front. Very close to Laeops Gnthr., but distinguished by the 2 separate anterior rays of dorsal and the more sharply angular arch of the lateral line. 1906. Smith and Pope, loc. cit., p. 496, text-fig. 12. 1922. Von Bonde, Fish. Mar. Surv. Spec. Rep., i, p. 9. Body rather elongate ovate. Depth 21-2, length of head 51-52, in length. Eye 21 in length of head, lower slightly in advance of upper. D 100-103; A 76; V 6; P 14, left pectoral about 1 in head, slightly longer than right. Scales: 1.1. 100-102. Length.-Up to 135 mm. Colour.-Reddish-yellow, left pectoral and vertical fins blackish or edged with blackish. Locality.-Natal coast, 180-230 fathoms. *Lambdopsetta pectoralis von B. 1922. Von Bonde, Fish. Mar. Surv. Spec. Rep., i, p. 10, pl. i, fig. 3. 1925. Id., Tr. Roy. Soc. S. Afr., vol. xii, pt. 4, p. 289. Resembling kitaharae but D 113; A 91; P 12, the left pectoral much larger than right, nearly twice length of head, which is 6 in length. Length.-Up to 190 mm. Locality.-Off Natal coast and Delagoa Bay, 150-170 fathoms. It seems worth investigating whether this form is not the adult male of kitaharae. Young Forms. Von Bonde records (1922, Fish. Mar. Surv. Spec. Rep., i, p. 9) a young specimen from the Natal coast which he has provisionally identified as a species of Etropus J. and G. The special reasons for identifying this specimen with Etropus are not given. This genus is easily distinguished from all the other genera of Bothidae here recorded by the almost straight lateral line. Some other specimens in the South African Museum, which appear to be juveniles, are here identified with the following form. Platophrys circularis Regan. 1908. Regan, Tr. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool., vol. xii, pt. 3, p. 233, pl. xxvi, fig. 3. Body ovate in a specimen 23 mm. long, becoming nearly circular in larger specimens. Depth 1 (small) to 13 (larger specimens), head 33-4 in length. Eye about 6 in length of head, equal to in small, less than interorbital width in larger specimens. D 85-90; A 63–66; P 8, about 2 in length of head. Scales all rubbed off. Length.-Up to 42 mm. Colour (as preserved).-Yellowish with a double series of 6-8 small spots along each margin of body, and another series on the dorsal and anal fins. Locality. Algoa Bay to Natal, 22-47 fathoms. These specimens are not the young of Crossorhombus dimorphus, of which species there is a good series in the South African Museum. It is perhaps possible that P. circularis is only the young of the other species described by Regan in the same paper, viz. P. ovalis. Fam. 3. PLEURONECTIDAE. Dextral. Dorsal fin extending forward above eye or on to snout, all the rays articulated. Ventrals with 6 or fewer rays. Mouth with lower jaw more or less prominent. No teeth on palatine. No supramaxilla. Preopercle with free edge. Olfactory laminae slightly raised, parallel, without axis. Key to the South African genera. 1. Dorsal originating above upper eye. a. Teeth mostly on blind side only b. Teeth well developed on both sides 2. Dorsal originating on snout, its anterior rays strongly produced Gen. LIMANDA Gottsche. 1825. Gottsche. Wiegmann's Arch., p. 100. 1880. Günther, Challenger Rep., vol. i, p. 57 (Nematops). 1895. Goode and Bean, Oceanogr. Ichthyol., p. 427. Limanda. Poecilopsetta. Eyes narrowly separated. Mouth moderate. Teeth uniserial, mostly on blind side. Dorsal originating above upper eye. Left neutral median, or almost so. Scales moderate or small, ctenoid. Lateral line on both sides strongly arched anteriorly. These Flat-fish are termed Dabs in England. *Limanda beani Goode. Bean's Dab. 1881. Goode, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. iii, p. 473. 1895. Goode and Bean, loc. cit., p. 428, fig. 355a-d. 1922. Von Bonde, Fish. Mar. Surv. Spec. Rep., i, p. 16. Body elongate ovate. Depth 2-23, length of head 4-5, in length of body. Eye 2 (von Bonde)-3 (Goode and Bean's figure)-in length of head. D 62-68, A 54-56, P 7. Scales: 1.1. 88-90, 27-30 of which are in the curve. Length.-Up to 145 mm. Colour.-Greyish-brown with darker patches, pectoral and ventral blackish, dorsal and anal with irregular black streaks, caudal with a conspicuous black spot on the outer rays on either side. Locality.-Off Natal and Delagoa Bay, 180-230 fathoms. Gen. POECILOPSETTA Gnthr. 1880. Günther, Challenger Rep., vol. i, p. 48. Eyes moderate, narrowly separate. Mouth moderate, teeth sharp, well-developed on both sides. Gill-membranes united. Dorsal originating above upper eye. Left ventral median, right nearly so. Scales small or very small; ctenoid, deciduous. Lateral line on both sides strongly arched anteriorly. Indo-Pacific. |