- Starry flounder
Taxobox
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name = Starry flounder
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Actinopterygii
ordo =Pleuronectiformes
familia =Pleuronectidae
genus = "Platichthys "
species = "P. stellatus"
binomial = "Platichthys stellatus"
binomial_authority = (Pallas,1788 )The starry flounder ("Platichthys stellatus") is a commonflatfish found around the margins of theNorth Pacific .The distinctive features of the starry flounder include the combination of black and white-to-orange bar on the dorsal and
anal fin s, as well as the skin covered with scales modified into tiny star-shaped plates or tubercles (thus both the common name and species epithet), resulting in a rough feel. The eyed side is black to dark brown, while the lower side is white or cream-colored. Although classed as "righteye flounders," individuals may have their eyes on either the right or left side. They have been recorded at up to 91 cm and 9 kg.Starry flounders are inshore fish, ranging up estuaries well into the
freshwater zone, to the firstriffle s, with young found as much as 120 km inland. In marine environments, they occur as deep as 375 m. They glide over the bottom by rippling their dorsal and anal fins, seeking out a variety benthic invertebrates. Larvae start out consuming planktonic algae and crustaceans, then as they metamorphose they shift to larger animals.Like all flounders, when young starry flounders swim around like normal fish, vertically, but soon they begin to tilt to a side as they swim and eventually live lying on the sandy floor. As well as many other changes in body structure, the migration of one of its eyes is of the most crucial changes, including the loss of dark color on its side which touches the ground.
On the western side of the Pacific they occur as far south as
Japan andKorea , ranging through theAleutian Islands , the coast ofAlaska ,Canada , and down the West Coast of the U.S. as far as the mouth of theSanta Ynez River inSanta Barbara County, California . They are an important game and food fish across their range.References
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*Peter B. Moyle , "Inland Fishes of California" (University of California Press, 2002), pp. 444-446
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