The American smooth flounder (Pleuronectes putnami) is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish that inhabits shallow inshore salt and brackish waters at depths of up to 27 metres (89 ft). Its native habitat is the temperate waters of the northwestern Atlantic, from Ungava Bay in Quebec, Canada to Rhode Island, United States. It can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in length.[1][2]
| American smooth flounder | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Carangiformes |
| Family: | Pleuronectidae |
| Genus: | Pleuronectes |
| Species: | P. putnami
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| Binomial name | |
| Pleuronectes putnami (Gill, 1864)
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| Distribution of American smooth flounder | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
editThe American smooth flounder is a right-eyed flatfish, resembling the winter flounder in shape and appearance. Its upper side, including the fins, ranges in colour from dark grey to brown or almost black, and may be either uniform or mottled with darker patches of the same colour; its underside is white. Females are smooth on both sides of the body, whilst males are rough on the upper side.[3]
Range and habitat
editThe American smooth flounder inhabits the shallow salt and brackish arctic-boreal waters of the northwestern Atlantic, living inshore on the soft mud bottoms of estuaries, river mouths and sheltered bays. Its range stretches along the Canada–US coast from Quebec through Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts to Rhode Island.[3]
Diet
editThe diet of the American smooth flounder consists mainly of zoobenthos invertebrates such as crustaceans, molluscs and marine worms.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Pleuronectes putnami". FishBase. February 2018 version.
- ^ Armstrong, Michael P.; Starr, Bethany A. (1994). "Reproductive Biology of the Smooth Flounder in Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire" (PDF). Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 123: 112–114. doi:10.1577/1548-8659(1994)123<0112:rbotsf>2.3.co;2. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
- ^ a b Bigelow, Henry B.; Schroeder, William C. (1953). Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Vol. 53. Washington: United States Government. p. 283. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
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