Plaice
 Distribution map for European plaice (The Sea Around Us) |
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Distribution map for American plaice (The Sea Around Us) |
Plaice is a common name used for a group of flatfish. There are four species in the group, the European, American, Alaskan, and scale-eye plaice.
Commercially, the most important plaice is the European. This is the principal commercial flatfish in Europe; it is also widely fished recreationally, has potential as an aquaculture species, and is kept as an aquarium fish. Also commercially important is the American plaice.
The term plaice (plural plaice) comes from the 14th century Anglo-French plais. This in turn comes from the late Latin platessa, meaning flatfish, which originated from the Ancient Greek platys, meaning broad.
The European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is a right-eyed flounder belonging to the Pleuronectidae family. They are a commercially important flatfish which lives on the sandy bottoms of the European shelf. They range geographically from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean. European plaice are characterised by their smooth brown skin, with distinctive red spots and bony ridge behind the eyes. They feed on polychaetes, crustaceans and bivalves and can be found at depths up to 200 metres. At night they move into shallow waters to feed, and during the day they bury themselves in the sand. Their maximum recorded length is 100 cm (39.4 inches), and maximum reported age 50 years.
Together with sole, European plaice form a group of flatfish that are the most important flatfish in Europe. European plaice have been fished from the North Sea for hundreds of years. They are usually fished from beam trawlers, otter trawlers or seiners. In the Celtic Sea the plaice species is considered overfished.
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