Starry Flounder (Platichthys stellatus)

Also known as Diamond Flounder, Emerywheel, English Sole, Flounder, Grindstone, Long-jaw Flounder, Long-nosed Flounder, Rough Jacket, Sole, Swamp Flounder

Description

Also known as Diamond Flounder, Emerywheel, English Sole, Flounder, Grindstone, Long-jaw Flounder, Long-nosed Flounder, Rough Jacket, Sole, Swamp Flounder.

Found inshore, partially buried, or out foraging for food, over silty, mud and sandy bottoms, often in very shallow waters, of estuaries and rivers in summer, moving too much deeper waters in winter.
They feed on crustaceans, small fish, small molluscs, brittle stars, and worms.
Juveniles found in rivers.
Length - 90cm
Depth - 0-375m
Widespread Pacific Ocean

Named because the lefteye has migrated to the right side of the body

Flatfish, Soles and Flounders are placed in their families by location of their eyes. Their are both left eye and right eye dominant families.
Flatfish bury themselves in sand to hide from predators and use their eyes as periscopes as these can rotate 180 degrees.
During pelagic larval stage these fish are not flat but become so as they grow, their bodies flatten, and one eye migrates across the head next to the other eye. Ref: https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Platichthys-stellatus.html

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