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Pleuronectes platessa  Linnaeus, 1758

European plaice
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Image of Pleuronectes platessa (European plaice)
Pleuronectes platessa
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country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence:
Salinity:
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist:
Country Information:
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes) > Pleuronectidae (Righteye flounders) > Pleuronectinae
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Камбала морская, Plie d'Europe, Solla europea, ... more

Main reference

Cooper, J.A. and F. Chapleau. 1998. (Ref. 30193)
 References | Biblio | Coordinator : Amaoka, Kunio | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 100.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4705); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); max. published weight: 7.0 kg (Ref. 173); max. reported age: 50 years (Ref. 173)

Length at first maturity
 Lm 30.8, range 24 - 42 cm

Environment

Marine; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 200 m (Ref. 35388), usually 10 - 50 m (Ref. 35388)

Climate / Range

Temperate; 2°C - 15°C (Ref. 5504), preferred 12°C (Ref. 107945); 72°N - 36°N, 54°W - 45°E

Distribution

Northern Sea. Reports from the Mediterranean Sea appear to be misidentifications of P. flesus. It may have been present in some areas of the Mediterranean in the past, as a result of climatic changes related to the ice age, but at present times seem to be absent (Ref. 89040).
 Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 65-79; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 48 - 59. Smooth with small scales. Bony ridge behind the eyes. Upper side brown or greenish brown with irregularly distributed bright red or orange spots. The underside is white. Lateral line straight, slightly curved above pectoral fin. Dorsal fin reaching eye. More than 30 vertebrae.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults live on mixed bottoms, the older the deeper the occurrence; small individuals are usually seen on bathing beaches (Ref. 9988). Occurs on mud and sand bottom from a few meters down to about 100 m, at sea, estuaries and rarely entering freshwaters (Ref. 59043). Reported as resident intertidal species with homing behavior (Ref. 32612). Feed mainly on thin-shelled mollusks and polychaetes. Batch spawner (Ref. 51846). The most important flatfish for fisheries in Europe. Utilized fresh and frozen; eaten steamed, fried, boiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988). Active at night in the very shallow water while day time is spent buried in the sand. Stationary for long periods, tagging experiments have shown that their spawning migrations can be long. Changes in the environmental conditions have been disadvantageous. Populations in Kattegat and Danish belts decreased in 1980's and early 1990's due to discharge of nutritive salts. Wadden sea is still an excellent nursery ground (Ref.35388).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Least Concern (LC) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless



Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FIRMS (Stock assessments) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
 PD50 = 0.6250 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
 3.2   ±0.50 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
 Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.06-0.34; tm=2-6; tmax=30; Fec=50,000)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
 High to very high vulnerability (71 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
 Medium