Dories: Zeiformes

Dories are oval to disk shaped and very thin when viewed from the front. The size ranges from 4 inches (10 centimeters) for the dwarf dory to 3 feet (91 centimeters), 12 pounds (5.4 kg) for the South African Cape dory. Most dories are silver, bronze, brown, or red. Dories can change color in seconds from silver to dark brown or gray.

Dories live on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and its connecting seas, in the Indian Ocean, and on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Most dories live near the bottom of water 115 to 5100 feet (35 to 1500 meters) deep. Some live in middle depths or near the surface. Some species have a young open-water stage and live near the surface in the open ocean. Adults live on sandy, muddy, rocky bottoms.

Dories feed mainly on a variety of fishes but also eat shellless mollusks (MAH-lusks) and crustaceans (krus-TAY-shuns). Mollusks are animals with a soft, unsegmented body that may or may not have a shell. Crustaceans are water-dwelling animals that have jointed legs and a hard shell but no backbone. Young dories of the larger species, adult dwarf dories, and tinselfishes eat animal plankton. Plankton are microscopic plants and animals drifting in water.

Larger dories are of commercial importance as food fishes. Most dories are caught by trawlers, which are fishing boats dragging nets, but a few of the larger species are caught with hook and line.

Dories are not threatened or endangered.