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Righteye flounders are a family, Pleuronectidae, of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left side, with both eyes on the right side.

Their dorsal and anal fins are long and continuous, with the dorsal fin extending forward onto the head.

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 2,000 m. The smaller species eat sea-floor invertebrates such as polychaetes and crustaceans, but the larger righteye flounders, such as H. hippoglossus, which grows up to 2.4 m, feed on other fishes and cephalopods as well.

They include many important commerically fished species, including not only the various fish called flounders, but also the European plaice, the halibuts, the lemon sole, the common dab, the Pacific Dover sole, and the flukes.

Classification


In some classifications the subfamilies Paralichthodinae, Poecilopsettinae, and Rhombosoleinae are raised to the level of families.

According to FishBase there are 101 species in 41 genera and five subfamilies:

  • Genus Verasper
  • Subfamily Hippoglossoidinae
  • Subfamily Lyopsettinae
  • Subfamily Paralichthodinae
  • Subfamily Pleuronectinae
  • Tribe Pleuronectini
  • Genus Platichthys
  • Genus Pleuronectes
  • Genus Pseudopleuronectes
  • Tribe Psettichthyini
  • Subfamily Poecilopsettinae
  • Subfamily Rhombosoleinae

    References


    Pleuronectiformes

    Schollen | Pleuronectidae | Plekšninės | Pleuronectidae

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    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Pleuronectidae".

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