Summer Flounder
Paralichthys dentatus
Image by Robert Aguilar, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, CC BY 2.0
Physical: Summer Flounder are large, flat fish with a distinctive ivory to light brown coloration and white blotchy spots. They attain an average size of 15 to 20 inches and a weight of 25 lbs. Females are larger than males.
Habitat: P. dentatus range from Maine through North Florida. They inhabit estuaries and coastal waters, and are bottom dwellers.
Feeding: P. dentatus are carnivorous, and hunt small fishes, squid, worms, shrimp, and other crustaceans.
Breeding: Summer Flounder spawn during their offshore migration from late summer to mid-winter. Larvae then drift inshore and enter protected coastal habitats from October to May. After hatching, the summer flounder has one eye on each side of the head. Over time the right eye gradually migrates to the left side of the head, distinguishing Summer Flounder from the right-sided Winter Flounder, and the body flattens.
