Flounder

Winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus
Flowery flounder, Bothus mancus,
Bahía de la Chiva, at Hawaii

Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries.

Taxonomy

The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, though all are in the suborder Pleuronectoidei (families Achiropsettidae, Bothidae, Pleuronectidae, Paralichthyidae, and Samaridae). Some of the better known species that are important in fisheries are:

Eye migration

In its life cycle, an adult flounder has two eyes on one side of its head, and at hatching one eye is on each side of its head. One eye migrates to the other side of the body through a metamorphosis as it grows from larval to juvenile stage. As an adult, a flounder changes its habits and camouflages itself by lying on the bottom of the ocean floor as protection against predators.[1] As a result, the eyes are then on the side which faces up. The side to which the eyes migrate is dependent on the species type.

Habitat

Flounders ambush their prey, feeding at soft muddy areas of the sea bottom, near bridge piles, docks and coral reefs.

A flounder's diet consists mainly of fish spawn, crustaceans, polychaetes and small fish. Flounder typically grow to a length of 22–60 centimeters (8.7–23.6 in), and as large as 95 centimeters (37 in). Their width is about half their length. Male Platichthys are known to display a pioneering spirit, and have been found up to 80 miles off the coast of northern Sardinia, sometimes with heavy encrustations of various species of barnacle.

Fluke, a type of flounder, are being farm raised in open water by Mariculture Technologies in Greenport, New York.[2]

Threats

A flounder blending into its environment

World stocks of large predatory fish and large ground fish, including sole and flounder, were estimated in 2003 to be only about 10% of pre-industrial levels, largely due to overfishing. Most overfishing is due to the extensive activities of the fishing industry.[3][4][5][6] Current estimates suggest that approximately 30 million flounder (excluding sole) are alive in the world today. In the Gulf of Mexico, along the coast of Texas, research indicates the flounder population could be as low as 15 million due to heavy overfishing and industrial pollution.

According to Seafood Watch, Atlantic flounders and soles are currently on the list of seafood that sustainability-minded consumers should avoid.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Fairchild, E.A. and Howell, W.H, E. A.; Howell, W. H. (2004). "Factors affecting the post-release survival of cultured juvenile Pseudopleuronectes americanus". Journal of Fish Biology. 65 (Supplementary A): 69–87. doi:10.1111/j.0022-1112.2004.00529.x.
  2. ↑ Kreahling, Lorraine (17 November 1996). "Farming Fluke in Open Water". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Clover, Charles (2008). The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25505-0. OCLC 67383509.
  4. ↑ Myers, R. A.; Worm, B. (2003). "Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities". Nature. 423 (6937): 280–283. doi:10.1038/nature01610. PMID 12748640.
  5. ↑ Dalton, Rex (2006). "Save the big fish: Targeting of larger fish makes populations prone to collapse". BioEd Online. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  6. ↑ Hsieh, Chih-hao; Reiss, Christian S.; Hunter, John R.; Beddington, John R.; May, Robert M.; Sugihara, George (2006). "Fishing elevates variability in the abundance of exploited species". Nature. 443 (7113): 859. doi:10.1038/nature05232. PMID 17051218.
  7. ↑ "Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch Program – All Seafood List". Monterey Bay Aquarium. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
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