Other Free Encyclopedias :: Animal Life Resource :: Fishes and Other Cold-Blooded Vertebrates

Flatfishes: Pleuronectiformes - Physical Characteristics, Behavior And Reproduction, Peacock Flounder (bothus Lunatus): Species Accounts, Pacific Halibut (hippoglossus Stenolepis): Species Accounts - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET, FLATFISHES AND PEOPLE,

PEACOCK FLOUNDER (Bothus lunatus): SPECIES ACCOUNTS
PACIFIC HALIBUT (Hippoglossus stenolepis): SPECIES ACCOUNTS
COMMON SOLE (Solea solea): SPECIES ACCOUNTS

GEOGRAPHIC RANGE

Flatfishes live all over the world.

HABITAT

Most flatfishes live in coastal waters over sand and mud bottoms.

DIET

Flatfishes eat invertebrates (in-VER-teh-brehts), or animals without backbones, and fishes.

FLATFISHES AND PEOPLE

Flatfishes are important food fishes.

MOVING EYES

All flatfishes begin life with one eye on each side of the head. During the change from larvae to adults, one eye moves from one side of the head to the other, so that both eyes end up on the same side. Depending on the species, either the right or the left eye migrates. The eyes may be close together or far apart when the eye travel is completed.

CONSERVATION STATUS

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists one species of flatfishes as Endangered and one as Vulnerable. Endangered means facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. Vulnerable means facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.