Flatfish

Flatfish are ray-finned fishes whose adults have both eyes on one side of a flattened body. They typically live and feed on the seafloor.

Flatfish metamorphosis: The developmental transformation in which a flatfish larva settles on one side and one eye migrates across its head. This transformation produces the adult’s defining one-sided arrangement of eyes.
Ray-finned fish: A major group of fishes whose fins are supported by slender bony rays. Flatfish belong to this enormous group of bony fishes.
Fishing industry: The commercial activity of harvesting, processing, and selling wild-caught fish. Many flatfish species support commercial fisheries around the world.
Skate: A cartilaginous fish with a flattened body and enlarged pectoral fins. Skates also lie on the seafloor, but their eyes remain on opposite sides of the head.
Atlantic halibut: A large flatfish native to the North Atlantic, valued as a food fish. Its size and migratory habits distinguish it among commercially important flatfish.
Countershading: A coloration pattern in which an animal’s upper surface is darker than its underside. Many flatfish have dark upper sides and pale undersides, matching light conditions above and below.
Teleost: A diverse group of ray-finned fishes with highly mobile jaws and a largely bony skeleton. Flatfish are teleosts, within the most diverse living group of vertebrates.
Trawl fishing: A fishing method that drags a net through the water or along the seabed. Bottom trawls catch flatfish, but can also disturb seabed habitats.
Stargazer (fish): A bottom-dwelling fish with eyes and a mouth positioned on top of its head. Stargazers face upward from the seabed without undergoing flatfish-style eye migration.
European flounder: A flatfish native to coastal and brackish waters of Europe and the northeastern Atlantic. It illustrates the group’s ability to live in estuaries as well as marine waters.

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