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Description:
The gulf flounder grows to 15 inches in length and is common to 2 pounds.
It is a left-eye flounder,
thus it lies on its right side, and at metamorphosis, the right eye
migrates to the left side of the head. Body color is brown overall, and
can vary in shade depending on the color of the substratum. There are
numerous splotches and spots on the upper surface of the body, with 3 ocellated (eye-like) spots prominent: 2 are posterior to the pectoral
fin, and 1 is located inside the base of the tail. Together, these form a triangle on
the body surface. Teeth are strong and canine-like. The blindside is white
or dusky.
Habitat:
Typical habitat for the gulf flounder is in sand or mud bottoms of
estuaries and coastal waters in depths less than 70 fathoms. It is
often found in nearshore reef areas.
Similar Species:
The gulf flounder is sometimes
confused with the southern flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma. The two are easily
distinguished based on the much smaller size of the gulf flounder, which grows
only to 15 inches. Additionally, the gulf flounder has 3 distinct
spots: 2 vertically placed posterior to the pectoral fins, and 1 placed inside
the base of the tail.
Range:
The gulf flounder occurs from North Carolina south through Florida and the
Gulf of Mexico to Texas. Its range overlaps with that of the southern
flounder.
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The gulf flounder, Paralichthys
albigutta. Illustration by Diana Rome Peebles 1998. Courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Marine Fisheries.
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Flatfishes such as flounders are unlike most other fishes in that they begin
life as bilateral
animals, swimming similarly to other fishes.
However, toward the end of the larval period,
flatfishes settle to the bottom and take up a cryptic,
somewhat sedentary lifestyle, lying on one side of the body, and swimming on
the other. Metamorphosis to the juvenile stage involves complex
modification of the skeletal structure of the head, and rearrangement of
the nervous system and muscle tissues. Additionally, the eye on the side
which faces the substratum (termed the blind-side eye) begins to migrate
to the upper side of the body.
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