Platichthys stellatus

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Pleuronectidae

Chiefly marine ; occasionally brackish ; rare in freshwater . Distribution: Arctic , Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Both eyes normally on the right side. Preoperculum with a free margin . Fins without spines. Dorsal fin extends on head . Swimbladder absent in adults . The pigmented side is capable of remarable color changes in order to match the bottom . Predators of benthic invertebrates and fishes . Pelagic spawners. Eggs without oil globule in yolk . Benthic, from a few to more than 1,000 m. Almost all species important to fisheries. Cooper and Chapleau (1998; Ref. 30193) exclude the subfamilies Poecilopsettinae, Rhombosoleinae, and Paralichthodinae.The family Pleuronectidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and the Order Pleuronectiformes. It contains 39 genera and 93 species. It may be found in Marine, Brackish, and Freshwater environments and is primarily Marine. Members of this family are not used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is anguilliform . Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be normal. Members of this family have been dated back to the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. Etymology of this family name : Greek, pleura = side, ribe + Greek, nekton = swimmer

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,606 meters (0 to 5,269 feet).Mean = -30.680 meters (-100.656 feet), Standard Deviation = 237.490 based on 3,327 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre.

Biome: Fresh water , brackish water, saltwater . Demersal .

Biology

Diet

Feeds on crustaceans, worms, small mollusks, brittle stars, and small fishes (Ref. 6885).

Migration

Found inshore , often in very shallow water and in estuaries during the summer; moving into deeper water in the winter (Ref. 27547). However, they may occur in deep water throughout the year (Ref. 27547). Does not venture into water of high salinities (Ref. 28899). Young and adults move up rivers , as much as 120 km (Ref. 27547).

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Platichthys rugosus Girard, 1854
2. Platichthys stellatus (Pallas, 1788)
3. Pleuronectes stellatus Pallas, 1788

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Family : Righteye flounders .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Platichthys

There are approximately 15 species in this genus:

P. flessus · P. flesus (Baltic Flounder) · P. flesus bogdanovi (White Sea Flounder) · P. flesus flesus · P. flesus italicus · P. flesus luscus · P. flesus marmorata · P. flesus septentrionalis (Northern Flounder) · P. flesus trachurus · P. sitellatus · P. stellatus (Emerywheel) · P. stellatus hybrid · P. stellatus rugosus (Emerywheel) · P. stillatus · P. x pleuro flesus x platessa

Bibliography

• Allen, M.J. and G.B. Smith (1988). Atlas and zoogeography of common fishes in the Bering Sea and northeastern Pacific. NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 66, 151 p.
• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
• Cooper, J. Andrew, and François Chapleau 1998. Monophyly and intrarelationships of the family Pleuronectidae (Pleuronectiformes), with a revised classification. Fishery Bulletin, vol. 96, no. 4. 686-726.
• Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983). A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 336 p.
• Eschmeyer, William N., ed. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. Special Publication of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information, no. 1, vol 1-3. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California, USA. 2905. ISBN: 0-940228-47-5.
• Hart, J.L. (1973). Pacific fishes of Canada. Fish. Res. Board Can. Bull. 180:1-740.
• Lamb, A. and P. Edgell (1986). Coastal fishes of the Pacific northwest. Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd., B.C., Canada. 224 p.
• Pietsch, T.W., K. Amaoka, D.E. Stevenson, E.L. MacDonald, B.K. Urbain and J.A. López (2000). Freshwater fishes of the Kuril Islands and adjacent regions. International Kuril Island Project (IKIP), University of Washington Fish Collection, Washington,
• Reshetnikov, Y.S., N.G. Bogutskaya, E.D. Vasil'eva, E.A. Dorofeeva, A.M. Naseka, O.A. Popova, K.A. Savvaitova, V.G. Sideleva and L.I. Sokolov (1997). An annotated check-list of the freshwater fishes of Russia. J. Ichthyol. 37(9):687-736.
• Robins, Richard C., Reeve M. Bailey, Carl E. Bond, James R. Brooker, Ernest A. Lachner, et al. 1980. A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada, Fourth Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication, no. 12. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 174.

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Notes

Contributors

• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 12, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 12 providers.
• MBLWHOI Library: Universal Biological Index and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 18, 2008.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 12, 2007:

• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, North Pacific Groundfish Observer
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity - Fish Collection
• University of Minnesota Bell Museum of Natural History, Fish specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2499366
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-24899
• Fishbase Species ID: 4249
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13548086
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 172893
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: AFCTB01010
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 120916

Footnotes

©2004-2008 the BayScience Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.