Flounder
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.
This article is about the fish. For other uses, see Flounder (disambiguation).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:
Habitat[edit]
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 have been found up to 130 km (80 mi) 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]