Pleuronectidae, also known as righteye flounders, are a family of
flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left sides, with both eyes on their right sides.
The
Paralichthyidae are the opposite, with their eyes on the left side. A small number of species in Pleuronectidae can also have their eyes on the left side, notably the members of the genus ''
Platichthys''.
Their
dorsal
Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to:
* Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism
* Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage
* Dorsal c ...
and
anal fins are long and continuous, with the dorsal fin extending forward onto the head. Females lay eggs that float in mid-water until the larvae develop, and they sink to the bottom.
They are found on the bottoms of oceans around the world, with some species, such as the
Atlantic halibut, ''Hippoglossus hippoglossus'', being found down to . The smaller species eat sea-floor invertebrates such as
polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made ...
s and
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, but the larger righteye flounders, such as ''H. hippoglossus'', which grows up to in length,
feed on other fishes and
cephalopods, as well.
They include many important commercially fished species, including not only the various fish called
flounders, but also the
European plaice
The European plaice (''Pleuronectes platessa''), commonly referred to as simply plaice, is a species of marine flatfish in the genus Pleuronectes of the family Pleuronectidae.
Description
The European plaice is characterized, on their dorsal ...
, the
halibut
Halibut is the common name for three flatfish in the genera '' Hippoglossus'' and '' Reinhardtius'' from the family of right-eye flounders and, in some regions, and less commonly, other species of large flatfish.
The word is derived from ''h ...
s, the
lemon sole, the
common dab
The common dab (''Limanda limanda'') is an edible flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish native to shallow seas around Northern Europe, in particular the North Sea, where it lives on sandy bottoms down to depths of about . ...
, the
Pacific Dover sole, and the
flukes.
The name of the family is derived from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
πλευρά (''pleura''), meaning "rib" or "side", and νηκτόν (''nekton''), meaning "swimming".
Classification
The family has four subfamilies:
*
Pleuronectinae
Pleuronectinae is a subfamily of fish in the family Pleuronectidae, comprising 27 genera and 62 extant species (there are also fossil species, including two '' Clidoderma''). Members of the subfamily are demersal carnivores that live in arctic and ...
– 27 genera and about 60 species in the
Northern Hemisphere (includes
Eopsettinae,
Hippoglossinae,
Hippoglossoidinae, and
Lyopsettinae recognized by some as valid subfamilies)
*
Paralichthodinae
The peppered flounder (''Paralichthodes algoensis'') is a flatfish of the family Paralichthodidae and the only species of the genus ''Paralichthodes''. It is a demersal fish that lives on sandy and muddy bottoms in subtropical waters, at depths ...
– one species off
southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
*
Poecilopsettinae – three genera and about 20 species in tropical and subtropical oceans
*
Rhombosoleinae – nine genera and about 20 species in the
Southern Hemisphere
In some classifications, the last three subfamilies are raised to the level of families.
Greenland halibut
The Greenland halibut or Greenland turbot (''Reinhardtius hippoglossoides'') belongs to the family Pleuronectidae (the right-eye flounders), and is the only species of the genus ''Reinhardtius''. It is a predatory fish that mostly ranges at dept ...
, ''Reinhardtius hippoglossoides''
Image:Hippoglossoides platessoides.jpg, American plaice
The American plaice, American sole or long rough dab (''Hippoglossoides platessoides'') is a North Atlantic flatfish that belongs, along with other right-eyed flounders, to the family Pleuronectidae. In the northwest Atlantic (''H. p. platessoide ...
, ''H. platessoides''
Image:Glyptocephalus cynoglossus.jpg, Witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
, ''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''
Image:Microstomus kitt 1.jpg, Lemon sole, ''Microstomus kitt''
Image:Limanda limanda.jpg, Common dab
The common dab (''Limanda limanda'') is an edible flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish native to shallow seas around Northern Europe, in particular the North Sea, where it lives on sandy bottoms down to depths of about . ...
, ''Limanda limanda''
Image:Parophrys vetulus 1.jpg, English sole, ''Parophrys vetulus''
Image:Psettichthys melanostictus.gif, Pacific sand sole, ''Psettichthys melanostictus''
Image:Poecilopsetta beanii.jpg, Deepwater dab, ''Poecilopsetta beanii''
Image:Rhombosolea retiaria by Frank Edward Clarke 2.jpg, Black flounder, ''Rhombosolea retiaria''
See also
*
Bothidae, the lefteye family of flounders
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q647087
Marine fish families
Taxa named by Georges Cuvier
Fish of Korea