Ocean Fishes
American Plaice
Hippoglossoides platessoides
Also known as
Dab, plaice, sole
Distribution
Continental shelves of the Atlantic Ocean from the Arctic Circle to Rhode Island
Écosystèmes/habitats
Soft sandy or muddy bottoms
Feeding Habits
Ambush predator
Conservation Status
Threatened
Taxonomie
Order Pleuronectiformes (flatfishes); Family Pleuronectidae (right-eye flounders)
Partager
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Google+When American plaice emerge from their eggs, they have a normal fish-shaped body. Like other flatfish, they develop their unique shape over time. As they grow, their left eye starts to migrate over to their right side and their body begins to flatten. By the time they reach the juvenile stage and settle on the ocean floor, they will have assumed the classic flatfish shape. Their flattened body allows them to lie flush with the ocean floor and swim on their side, undulating just above the ground in search of their favourite foods. As adults, American plaice are known to be fairly adaptable to changes in prey availability; however they commonly feed on worms, molluscs, sea urchins, starfish, crustaceans and small fish.
- American Lobster
- American Plaice
- Arctic Char
- Atlantic Cod
- Atlantic Herring
- Atlantic Mackerel
- Atlantic Puffin
- Atlantic Walrus
- Atlantic Wolffish
- Beluga Whale
- Blue Shark
- Bowhead Whale
- Bubblegum Coral
- Canary Rockfish
- Capelin
- Chinook Salmon
- Dungeness Crab
- Eulachon
- Fin Whale
- Fjords
- Giant Pacific Octopus
- Great White Shark
- Green Sea Turtle
- Greenland Halibut/Turbot
- Greenland Shark
- Humboldt Squid
- Humpback Whale
- Kelp Forests
- Leatherback Sea Turtle
- Lingcod
- Lion's Mane Jellyfish
- Loggerhead Sea Turtle
- Lophelia Coral
- Narwhal
- North Atlantic Right Whale
- Northern Gannet
- Northern Shrimp
- Orca
- Pacific Herring
- Pilot Whale
- Polar Bear
- Pom-Pom Anemones
- Redfish (Acadian & Deepwater)
- Sea Otter
- Sea Pens
- Sea Strawberry
- Seamounts
- Snow crab
- Sockeye Salmon
- Spiny Dogfish
- Thick-billed Murres
- Thorny Skate
- Tufted Puffin
- Yelloweye Rockfish