The eyed flounder (''Bothus ocellatus'') is a species of fish in the family Bothidae (lefteye flounders). The species is found on or near the sandy seabed in relatively shallow waters in the western

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

Description

The eyed flounder is a flattened, disc-shaped fish which grows to a maximum length of but a more typical size is . As with other members of its family, it lies on its right side, and during its development, its right eye migrates to the left side of its head. The protractile mouth is large and the male fish has a spine on the snout and a bony lump in front of the lower eye. The eyes are large and prominent, the lower one being slightly nearer the snout than the upper one. Both eyes have a fleshy ridge above and behind them. The dorsal fin has 76 to 91 soft rays and has its origin close to the upper eye. It is long and ribbon-like and there is a gap between it and the caudal fin. The anal fin has 58 to 69 soft rays and is also long and distinct from the caudal fin. The color of this fish is pale tan, grey or brown, with patches, mottling and ring-shaped markings, the fish being able to modify its color to match its background. It can change its color in between two and eight seconds. Three larger dark spots lie on the straight portion of the lateral line and there are two fainter ones on the tail. It differs from the slightly darker twospot flounder (''Bothus robinsi'') because its tail spots are one above the other in this species but one behind the other in the twospot flounder. The underside of this species is pale.

Distribution and habitat

The eyed flounder is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, its range extending from Canada to southern Brazil. Its typical habitat is sandy flats in the vicinity of patch reefs, often near areas of coral rubble and

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

s. It commonly occurs at depths down to about but is sometimes found at greater depths, down to . It spends most of the time lying on the seabed, sometimes semi-immersed in the sediment.

Biology

The eyed flounder feeds on fish, which makes up about a third of its diet, and on

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s such as crabs, mantis shrimps, shrimps and

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far describ ...

. Near the island of Bonaire, reproduction takes place during the winter. A male eyed flounder defends a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

in which are up to six females, each with its own individual area. Courtship starts about an hour before sunset, and around the time the sun sets culminates in the female swimming a short way off the bottom with the male immediately below her. Both release their spawn simultaneously into the water. The male tries to mate with each of the females on a daily basis. When the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e hatch from the fertilised eggs, they are

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

and form part of the

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

in the open water, and their eyes are at first orientated in a normal, symmetrical manner. During their growth and development the eyes migrate to their adult position on the left side of the head. The larvae and juvenile fish form part of the diet of many fish and invertebrates, and the adults are preyed on by predatory fishes,

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

s, herons, seals and

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3754371 Bothidae Fish described in 1831