Near the coasts of Devonshire and Cornwall, dorées are caught in great number both in nets and with lines; and they are principally in season during the months of October, November, and December. Their name is a corruption from the French jaune dorée, and signifies golden yellow fish, this being their colour when first taken out of the water.
216. The HOLIBUT (Pleuronectes hippoglossus) is a flat fish of considerably lengthened shape, of olive or blackish colour above, with smooth body, and the tail hollowed at the extremity. The eyes (as viewed from the head toward the tail) are on the right side.
These, the largest of all the European species of flat fish, inhabit both the European and American seas, and frequently weigh from 100 to 300 or 400 pounds each.
As the holibut is found only at the bottom of the water, the usual mode of catching it is with hooks and lines; and its size is so great that, for sale in the markets, it is customary to cut it into pieces. The season in which it is most esteemed is during the months of October, November, and December.
Though, in general, a coarse food, the parts which are near the side fins are fat and delicious, but too rich for any one to eat much of them. The inhabitants of Greenland eat of these fish both fresh and dried. They also eat the skin and the liver; and the membrane of the stomach serves instead of glass for windows. The Swedes and Icelanders make of holibut a food called raff and rœchel; the former consisting of the fins with the fat skin to which they are attached; and the latter of pieces of the flesh cut into stripes, salted, and dried on sticks in the air. Holibuts are also salted in the same manner as herrings, which is said to be the best mode of curing them; but, in this state, they are coarse and bad eating.
217. The PLAISE (Pleuronectes platessa) is a kind of flat fish easily known by a row of six bony protuberances behind the left eye, and its upper side being marbled with olive and brown, and marked with orange spots.
Though usually of small size, this fish sometimes grows to the weight of twelve or fourteen pounds, and is found on the shores of almost all the countries of Europe.
The best and largest plaise are said to be caught on some parts of the coast of Sussex. They are in greatest perfection from December to March, and in July, August and September. Those that are of tolerably large size are firm and well-flavoured, but the small and thin fish become gluey by boiling. The flesh of the former is bluish, and of the latter reddish white. Plaise are generally caught with nets called seine nets, which are hauled upon the shores.
In some countries these fish are salted and dried as articles of commerce; and in others the best of them are skinned, dried, and pressed into particular forms, and, when eaten, are cut like cheese.
218. The DAB (Pleuronectes limanda) is a species of flat fish, of yellowish brown colour, with the eyes on the right side of the body, the scales hard and toothed, and the lateral line, at its commencement, curved round the pectoral fin.