Author: Linnaeus, 1758
Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus, 1758
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus, 1758 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: dorsal finrays 65-79, anal finrays 48-59. Lateral line scales 88-115. Colour: see genus. Size: to about 100 cm SL, seldom more than 35-40 cm.
Habitat: on mixed bottoms, from a few metres to about 100 m, the older the deeper the occurrence. Food: mainly thin-shelled molluscs and polychaetes. Reproduction: spawns when the temperature is about 6 °C. Commercial importance: the most important flatfish for fisheries in Europe.
Distribution: western Mediterranean (occurrences in the eastern Mediterranean doubtful) and along European coasts to White Sea; occasionally off Greenland.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Ehrenbaum, 1905: 156 161 | Norman, 1934: 351 (references) | Wimpenny, 1953:passim | Padoa, 1956: 832-834.
Otoliths (sagitta). Schmidt, 1968: 61.