Home › Volumes › Fishes › The Flounders
Arrow-toothed Halibut — Part 2
Images coming soon.
Very large fish are not so highly esteemed as those of smaller size. A fat female of about 80 pounds is said by experts to be the most savoury.
The halibut ranks among the most valued food-fishes of the world. In 1898 the halibut landed at Gloucester and Boston amounted to 10,378,181 pounds, valued at $576,382. In 1899 it was somewhat less in quantity (9,025,182 pounds) but valued at $600,000. The halibut fishery on our Pacific coast is also of vast importance. The catch on the coast of Washington, Oregon and California in 1895 aggregated 1,719,315 pounds, valued at $39,818. In 1899 the catch was 6,877,640 pounds, valued at $192,280. And since 1899 the catch has enormously increased, but no exact figures are available.
At the preset time the shipment of fresh halibut from the Pacific Coast to the East is an important business. It was only to-day (March 5) that we noticed in the daily papers an account of the running of a fish-train from Vancouver to Boston--the "Halibut Express," "comprising 9 cars of fresh halibut, 1 of Puget Sound salmon, and 1 of Squallish Valley hops," a through fish-train from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 6 days!
The only species of Lyopsetta is L. exilis. This is a small flounder, rarely exceeding a foot in length and a pound in weight, which is exceedingly abundant in deep water on sandy bottom from San Francisco to Puget Sound. It is taken in the sweep-nets, or paranzelle, in the spring off Point Reyes in enormous numbers, sometimes a ton at a haul. It is less abundant in Puget Sound, though taken in considerable numbers in seines. Its flesh is soft, and the fish does not sell well.
The genus Eopsetta contains a single species, E. jordani. This flounder, known on the California coast almost exclusively as "sole," is found from Monterey to Puget Sound. It is rare north of Cape Mendocino, but abundant in Monterey Bay, where great numbers are taken by Chinamen on set-lines baited with anchovies. It reaches a length of 18 inches, and a weight of 6 or 8 pounds, the average being about 3 pounds. As a food-fish it is one of the best of the family. Great numbers are dried yearly by the Chinese, who suspend them by strings on a frame placed on the roofs of the houses, as they are too fleshy to dry well on tables. Here they rustle in the wind, and, striking together, produce a sound like the wind among the leaves.
GENUS HIPPOGLOSSOIDES GOTTSCHE
Body oblong, moderately compressed; mouth rather large, with 1 row of sharp teeth in each jaw; no teeth on vomer or palatines; lateral line nearly straight, simple; eyes and colour on right side, except in H. elassodon.
This genus contains 3 or 4 species, only 2 of which are of any importance. The sand-dab, or rough-dab, H. platessoides, is found in the North Atlantic, and as far south as Woods Hole. It is abundant on the English coast, and is a well-known food-fish in Scandinavia. It is found off the New England coast in rather deep water. It reaches 2 feet in length, and a weight of 3 or 4 pounds. As a food-fish it is highly esteemed, especially in Europe.
H. elassodon occurs from Bering Sea south to Puget Sound. It is common about the wharves at Seattle, Port Townsend and Tacoma, where it takes the hook readily and affords the boys much sport. It reaches a length of 15 or 18 inches, a weight of 2 or 3 pounds, and is a good food-fish.
The single species of Psettichthys is P. melanostictus. This is one of the most common flounders on the Pacific Coast from Monterey Bay to Sitka, and is everywhere known as "sole." It attains a length of about 20 inches, and a weight of 4 or 5 pounds, the average length being perhaps 15 inches. Although never found in large numbers, it is always present in the markets, and is considered a good food-fish.
GENUS PARALICHTHYS GIRARD
The Bastard Halibuts
Body oblong; mouth large, oblique, each jaw with a single row of usually slender teeth which are more or less enlarged anteriorly; no teeth on vomer or palatines; gillrakers slender; scales small, weakly ctenoid or ciliated; lateral line simple, with a strong curve anteriorly; dorsal fin beginning before the eyes, its anterior rays not produced; both ventrals lateral.
Species numerous, found in all warm seas. Many species inhabiting both coasts of America and the eastern and southern coasts of Asia.
a. Gillrakers in large numbers, about 9+20; .......Californicus
aa. Gillrakers less numerous, about 5 or 6+11 to 21; .......dentatus