European plaice
| European plaice | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Pleuronectiformes |
| Family: | Pleuronectidae |
| Genus: | Pleuronectes |
| Species: | P. platessa |
| Binomial name | |
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Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus, 1758 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is a commercially important flatfish.
The geographical range of the European plaice is off all coasts from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean, also in the Northeast Atlantic and off Greenland. In some locales such as the Irish Sea this species is considered fully exploited by commercial fishing.
It is a common flatfish, occurring on the sandy and muddy bottoms of the European shelf, usually at depths between 10 and 50 m, where they tend to burrow in sediment during day time and remain stationary for long periods. They can be found at depths to about 200 m. Young fish in particular come right inshore in very shallow water.
They are able to survive low salt concentrations and may occur in some cases in brackish water or even in fresh water.
The European plaice is characterised above by their dark green to dark brown skin, blotched with conspicuous, but irregularly distributed, orange spots. The underside is pearly white. The skin is smooth with small scales. They are able to adapt their colour somewhat to match that of their surroundings, but the orange spots always remain visible The skin lacks any prickles.
Its maximum length is about 1 m, but adults, caught in fishing nets, are usually between 50 and 60 cm in length. Its maximum published weight is 7 kg and its maximum recorded age is 50 years.
The outline of adults is oval. The head is rather small and is less than 25% of the total length. The pointed mouth is terminal and fairly small with its maxilla reaching just below the right eye. Both eyes are located at the right side of the body. The bony ridge behind the eyes is another characteristic for this species. The lateral line curves slightly above the pectoral fin. The dorsal fin reaches the eye. The dorsal and anal fins are distant from the caudal fin. The anal fin contains 48 to 59 soft rays and is preceded by a spine. The dorsal fin has 65-79 soft rays, the pectoral fin 10 to 11, and the ventral fin six.
It is active at night and feeds on polychaetes, crustaceans and bivalves. Young plaice (between 1 and 2 years old) tend to consume mainly shrimps.
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Wikipedia