Pleuronectidae

noun

Chiefly marine; occasionally brackish; rare in freshwater. Distribution: Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Both eyes normally on the right side. Preoperculum with a free margin. Fins without spines. Dorsal fin extends on head. Swimbladder absent in adults. The pigmented side is capable of remarable color changes in order to match the bottom. Predators of benthic invertebrates and fishes. Pelagic spawners. Eggs without oil globule in yolk. Benthic, from a few to more than 1,000 m. Almost all species important to fisheries. Cooper and Chapleau (1998; Ref. 30193) exclude the subfamilies Poecilopsettinae, Rhombosoleinae, and Paralichthodinae.

The family Pleuronectidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and the Order Pleuronectiformes. It contains 39 genera and 93 species. It may be found in Marine, Brackish, and Freshwater environments and is primarily Marine. Members of this family are not used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is anguilliform. Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be normal. Members of this family have been dated back to the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. Etymology of this family name: Greek, pleura = side, ribe + Greek, nekton = swimmer