TSAF: The Windowpane Flounder
Animal Kingdom Weirdness
Today’s special animal friend is the windowpane flounder, Scophthalmus aquosus. This flatfish has a rounded body 10 to 12 inches long and about 8 inches across. It is found in the South Carolina Aquarium, where it is very hard to see.
Flounder and other flatfish belong to the Pleuronectoidei family. They are called demersal fish (or groundfish) because they live and feed on the bottom of oceans, seas, or lakes. They are divided into Pleuronectidae or “righteye flounders,” which lie on the sea floor on their left side, and Bothidae or “lefteye flounders,” which lie on their right side with their eyes on the left side. The windowpane flounder is a left-eyed flounder.
Like many cephalopods, flounders are covered with chromatophores which allow the fish to change color to blend in with their background. In addition to its color-changing ability, the windowpane flounder has a thin, sometimes translucent body that makes it nearly invisible on the sea floor.
Flounder are hatched looking like normal fish, laterally flattened, with one eye on each side of the head. As they mature, changes in their muscles and other body structures cause the body to flatten and one eye to “migrate,” joining the other eye on what is going to be the top side of the head.
Windowpane flounder are found in fairly shallow water along the Atlantic coast of North America and Canada. They are managed as a fishery with other flatfish by NOAA, Canadian fisheries authorities, and state fish and wildlife departments. In the northern part of their range, they spawn in late summer to fall, while further south, they may spawn from spring through late autumn. Newly hatched fry feed on copepods and other plankton. Adults on the sea floor eat small fish, shrimp, lobsters, and crabs.
Another cool species of flounder in the South Carolina Aquarium is the ocellated flounder, Ancylopsetta ommata. Also a left-eyed flounder, this species has four distinct “eye spots” on its upper side. In South Carolina, it shares an exhibit with an octopus.
The ocellated flounder is rated Least Concern by IUCN, while the windowpane flounder has not been evaluated. It has historically been overfished in parts of its range. Along with other flatfish, it is subject to catch limits and other harvest restrictions. In addition to fishing, flounder species are affected by climate change.
Sometimes I wonder if ever a boat overloaded with flounder ever foundered. But that's just me.
Good morning. 25 degrees, rising to about 30, but windy all day so with much lower chill factors. We got about an inch of snow overnight.
The mothership is covering the Supreme Court decision that invalidates most of Trump’s tariffs. The FP is headline a story about that fake-news peddler, Tucker Carlson, who once wore bow ties and was a mainstream conservative.
I already handed out one 🚪 at the mothership, to a certain sociology professor. I see more will earn the (dis)honor here.