Flounder

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Flounder
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Thank you for visiting Flounder. We are an all volunteer site. We try to provide you with the most complete information we can about different kinds of fish. We update our sources constantly. Please scroll down to learn more.

Family Bothidae, LEFTEYE FLOUNDERS Paralichthys albigutta
Flounder or flukes are flatfish that live in ocean waters ie., Northern Atlantic and waters along the east coast of the United States and Canada, and the Pacific Ocean, as well. The name "flounder" refers to several geographically and taxonomically distinct species. In Europe, the name flounder refers to Platichthys flesus, in the Western Atlantic there are the summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, and the winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus, among other species. In Japan, the Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus is common.
Description
Body color brown, its shade depending on color of bottom, with numerous spots and blotches. While flounders have both eyes situated on one side of the head, flukes are not born this way. Their life involves metamorphosis. During metamorphosis, one eye migrates to the other side of the body so that both eyes are situated on the upward-facing side of its body. After metamorphosis, flounder lie on one side on the ocean floor; either the left or right side might face upward depending on the species.
Size
Flounder sizes typically vary from five to fifteen inches, though they sometimes grow as large as three feet in length. Their breadth is about one-half of their length. Flounder are ambush predators and their feeding ground is the soft mud of the sea bottom, near bridge piles, docks, and other bottom incumbrances; they are sometimes found on bass grounds as well. Their diet consists mainly of fish spawn, crustaceans, polychaetes and small fish.
Similar Fish
Southern flounder, P. lethostigma (no eye-like spots; color pattern is key to distinguishing the two species).
Range
Inshore on sandy or mud bottoms, often ranging into tidal creeks; occasionally caught on Nearchore rocky reefs. Size: common to 2 pounds, generally smaller than southern flounder.