Flounder
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[edit] Description
Flounder is a common name for various marine fish in the Order Pleuronectiformes (flatfish), and in particular those comprising the families Bothidae (lefteye flounders), Pleuronectidaea (righteye founders), Achiropsettidae (southern flounders), Paralichthyidae (large-tooth flounders), and Psettodidae (spiny flounders). All members of the order—which includes soles, flounders, halibuts, plaice, sole, and turbot—are characterized by adults that are not bilaterally symmetrical, with one eye in the upright swimming, bilaterally symmetrical, young flatfish migrating to lie adjacent to the other eye, and the adults then swimming on the eyeless side. The term flounder is not a formal taxonomic rank, but rather is the common name used for numerous species scattered over several families. Sometimes the fluke, halibut, and plaice are types of flounder.
Flounders contribute value to Ecosystem and humans. They are integral in marine food chains, consuming fish, crustaceans, and polychaetes, and in term being consumed at various life stages by such invertebrate and vertebrates as jellyfish, crabs, shrimps, fish, birds, seals and sea lions. For humans, flounders are a valuable food fish, being prepared whole or in fillets, and being broiled, steamed, sauteed, or steamed.
[edit] Structure of the Flounder Fish
Flounders are flatfish that can evolve into different sizes. Mature flounders can weigh from 20 pounds to 600 pounds. Generally, their length and weight depends on the species they belong to. Some flounders like the sole fish are only inches long; while others like the halibut can grow up to a greater length. For some flounder species, the only fish in the sea that are bigger than them are the whale sharks. Flounder fish have fins across the upper parts and also underneath their bodies. They resemble a flat, circular ball with fins circling around. These Fish are normally brown in color, but can acquire a variety of colors like red, orange, green and blue.
[edit] Physical Transformation
In its lifetime, a flounder fish undergoes unusual transformation in its structure. When the egg hatches, like most other fish, it has an eye on any one side of its head. After a few days, it begins to lean to one side and the eye on that side migrates to the side with the other eye. In this way, the side that has both eyes becomes the top of the fish. It becomes a fish that lives at the bottom, with the color of the eyeless side fading, and becoming the bottom of the fish. With this transformational development, there are many other complicated changes that occur in the nerves and digestive system of the fish. There are also some visible changes in the muscles and bones. This migratory pattern of the eye is genetically influenced.
[edit] Food and Habitat
Many flounder fish species make their home in warm or moderate oceans, but quite a few of them are also found in oceans around the world including the arctic waters. They are predominately found in the shallow waters along the coast, where they blend so well with their surroundings that they are hardly visible. They like to eat a wide range of ocean foods. Some of them habitually eat other fish, while others eat worms, mollusks, and crawfish. These fish seem to be fairly choosy on what they want to eat.
[edit] Breeding
In most of the flounder species, spawning occurs during the hotter months of the year. Some species migrate from deeper waters to the coastal breeding grounds, others move along the coast to their preferred spawning site. After spawning, the eggs are deposited by the females where they float in water due to a small oil bubble present in every egg. In case of some species, the eggs remain near the bottom within the vegetation area, while in other species the Eggs rise to a shallow surface. After hatching from the eggs, the tiny creatures appear like most other fish with eyes on any one side of their head. The newborns drift along in the water, freely feeding on plankton and midget crustaceans. As they reach their adulthood, they move to the bottom of their habitat where they adapt to a bottom-dwelling existence.
[edit] Behavior
Depending on the home ground of flounder fish, the camouflaging coloration may be dappled to match different colors along the bottom or in some areas with sandy bottoms. Some flounders camouflage their bodies and appear invisible to predators as they dig themselves into the bottom, using their fins to settle the ground material over their bodies. Most species have outward-bulging eyes that move as they watch for predators or prey. Most often, the only part of this bottom-dweller that is visible are its eyes. If it is disturbed, it rapidly swims away in a motion that throws up all the bottom silt around its body. After it reaches a safe place away from the disturbance, it settles back on the bottom and becomes invisible.
Many of the flounder fish species are on the verge of extinction due to overfishing by fishermen.
[edit] Environment changes. The Flounder changes with it
If their environment changes colour certain species of Flounder change colour with it. They adapt and blend in with the background so their predators can’t see them, but they are most certainly still there.
The birds and seals that hunt them will most likely eat a Flounder that doesn’t change colour and can’t adapt to its surroundings fast enough. The Flounders that do adapt will be left with fewer competitors, more food and live a longer life.
Flounders are evolved to meet the requirements of their rapidly changeable Environment. If we can learn anything from the Flounder it is that we have to adapt and change to tackle the specific environment we find ourselves in, without change the hawks will swoop while our camouflaged competitors look on in glee.
