Mediterranean scaldfish

Lamb tongue from the southern North Sea

The lamb tongue ( Arnoglossus laterna ) is an asymmetrically constructed fluke. It is found in the Northeast Atlantic from Norway to Mauritania and in the Mediterranean.

Features

The lamb tongue is like all Butte laterally strongly flattened and has an elongated and longitudinally oval body. They reach a maximum total length of 20 centimeters, making it so a relatively small flatfish. The eyes are both on the left side of the body, while the fish is usually to the right side on the bottom of the water. The scales of the eye side are smooth and dissolve very easily on being touched. Along the sidelines are 50-56 scales.

The basic color of the eye side is gray to brown with irregularly distributed dark spots. The right half of the body ( blind side ) is gray. The dorsal fin is applied before the eyes in the head, her front fin rays are often free-standing and not connected by a webbing. It has 82-98 and the anal fin 54-74 fin rays.

Dissemination

The lamb tongue lives on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean from Norway to Mauritania, occasionally also to Angola, as well as in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. She lives mainly on muddy, sandy and rocky bottoms at depths up to 200 meters.

Way of life

The lamb tongue chiefly on the ground captured crabs, molluscs and small benthic fish. The spawning season extends from April to August.

System

The lamb tongue is one of 35 recognized species of the genus Arnoglossus within the Butte ( Bothidae ).

Documents