Starry flounder

Sternflunder ( Platichthys stellatus )

The Sternflunder ( Platichthys stellatus ) is a flatfish from the coastal waters of the northern Pacific. They live from Japan to the Bering Sea, along the coasts of Alaska and Canada to Santa Barbara. The Sternflunder preferred brackish water and adheres offshore, often in estuaries on. She wanders up to 120 km up the rivers.

Features

The Sternflunder has an oval, asymmetrical, laterally strongly flattened body. Dorsal, caudal and anal fins are alternately dark and light (white or orange) zones. The dorsal fin begins about the middle of the upper eye. The dark brown or almost black eye side is covered with rough, star -shaped scales. The blind side is white or cream, in rare cases it has fully or in part the same color as the eye side. The caudal fin is rounded.

The eyes are on the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States at 60 to 70% of Sternflundern on the left side of the body, the rest are rechtsäugig. On the coast of Alaska and in Japan there are almost only left eye specimens. Sternflundern be a maximum of 90 inches long, and reach a maximum weight of 9 kg.

Fins formula: Dorsal 52-66, 38-47 Anal

Way of life

Sternflundern live in the summer and in coastal estuaries and migrate in winter in deeper water. Water with a high salt content they avoid. They feed on crustaceans, worms, small mollusks, brittle stars and small fish. You hybridized with bicoloratus Parophrys vetulus and Kareius.