Blackfin flounder
Encyclopedia
The blackfin flounder, Glyptocephalus stelleri, is a flatfish
of the family Pleuronectidae
. It is a demersal fish that lives in temperate waters at depths of between 8 and 1600 m (26.2 and 5,249.3 ft), though it is most commonly found between 15 and 800 m (49.2 and 2,624.7 ft). Its native habitat is the northern Pacific
, from the Sea of Japan
to the Strait of Tartary
and southern Kuril Islands
and out into the Bering Sea
. It grows up to 52 centimetres (20.5 in) in length, and can weigh up to 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb). Maximum reported lifespan is 23 years.
invertebrate
s such as crustacean
s, molluscs and worms
.
, Russia
that had its eyes on the left hand side of its body and corresponding reversal of pigmentation (see Bothidae
). This is the first recorded instance of this form of atavism
in the blackfin flounder.
Flatfish
The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through and around the head during development...
of the family Pleuronectidae
Pleuronectidae
Righteye flounders are a family, Pleuronectidae, of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left side, with both eyes on the right side. The Paralichthyidae are the opposite, with their eyes on the left side.Their dorsal and anal fins are...
. It is a demersal fish that lives in temperate waters at depths of between 8 and 1600 m (26.2 and 5,249.3 ft), though it is most commonly found between 15 and 800 m (49.2 and 2,624.7 ft). Its native habitat is the northern Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, from the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
to the Strait of Tartary
Strait of Tartary
Strait of Tartary is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia , connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with...
and southern Kuril Islands
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
and out into the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
. It grows up to 52 centimetres (20.5 in) in length, and can weigh up to 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb). Maximum reported lifespan is 23 years.
Diet
The blackfin flounder's diet consists of benthosBenthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.Many organisms...
invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s such as crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, molluscs and worms
Marine worm
Any worm that lives in a marine environment is considered a marine worm. Marine worms are found in several different phyla, including the Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida , Chaetognatha, Hemichordata, and Phoronida....
.
Atavism
In 2005 a blackfin flounder was caught in Peter the Great GulfPeter the Great Gulf
The Peter the Great Gulf is the largest gulf of the Sea of Japan adjoining the coast of Russia's Primorski Krai...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
that had its eyes on the left hand side of its body and corresponding reversal of pigmentation (see Bothidae
Bothidae
Lefteye flounders are a family, Bothidae, of flounders. They are called "lefteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their right side, with both eyes on the left side...
). This is the first recorded instance of this form of atavism
Atavism
Atavism is the tendency to revert to ancestral type. In biology, an atavism is an evolutionary throwback, such as traits reappearing which had disappeared generations before. Atavisms can occur in several ways...
in the blackfin flounder.