Page 368 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

366 ANIMAL LIFE

ORDER PLEURONECTIFORMES the size and age of fish landed. It is a ORDER TETRADONTIFORMES
typical oval-shaped flatfish with long
European Plaice fins extending along both edges of its Scrawled Filefish
thin body. Flatfish have both eyes on
Pleuronectes platessa one side of their body and are either Aluterus scriptus
1
LENGTH “right-eyed” or “left-eyed.” Plaice are LENGTH Up to 3 / 2 ft
Up to 3 ft (1 m) right-eyed: they lie on the sea bed (1.1 m)
WEIGHT with their left side down. Their WEIGHT Up to 5 / 2 lb
1
Up to 15 lb (7 kg) upward-facing right side is brown (2.5 kg)
DEPTH with orange or red spots. DEPTH 6–400 ft
0–655 ft (0–200 m) Plaice spend the day buried in the (2–120 m)
DISTRIBUTION Arctic Ocean, northeastern Atlantic, sand, emerging at night to feed on DISTRIBUTION Tropical and subtropical waters of
Mediterranean, and Black Sea shellfish and crustaceans, which they Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans
crush using special teeth in the throat
This species is the most important (pharyngeal teeth). Young plaice are Beautiful blue, irregular markings like
commercial flatfish for European also expert at nipping off the breathing a child’s scribbles give this reef fish its
fisheries. Heavy fishing, however, has siphons of shellfish that they spot name. Filefish are closely related to
resulted in a progressive reduction in sticking up out of the sand. triggerfish (see below, left), but are
thinner and, except for the scrawled
filefish, usually smaller. This large
Like all flatfish, the common sole month old, it settles on the sea floor species has one large and one tiny
ORDER PLEURONECTIFORMES
starts life as a tiny larval fish floating with its eyeless side facing down. spine on its back over the eyes. The
Common Sole near the surface. As it grows, it The skin on the underside stays white fish uses these spines to help wedge
gradually undergoes a radical but the upper side develops pigment. itself into crevices for safety.
metamorphosis. The eye on the left Although common sole can live
Solea solea
side moves around the head to join to be nearly 30 years old, they are
LENGTH
Up to 28 in (70 cm) the eye on the right and the body a valuable food fish and most are
starts to flatten. When it is about a caught when only a few years old.
WEIGHT
1
Up to 6 / 2 lb (3 kg)
DEPTH
0–500 ft (0–150 m)
DISTRIBUTION Temperate waters of northeastern
Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black seas
Common sole are masters of
camouflage and can subtly alter their
color to match the sea bed on which
they lie. The basic grayish brown color
can be lightened or darkened and the
pattern of darker splotches changed. ORDER TETRADONTIFORMES
Sole have a rounded snout and a
semicircular mouth and their head Spotted Boxfish
is fringed with short filaments,
giving them an unshaven appearance. Ostracion meleagris
LENGTH
Up to 10 in (25 cm)
The titan triggerfish is also known using its tough mouth and teeth.
ORDER TETRADONTIFORMES WEIGHT
as the mustache triggerfish due to It can even make a meal of sea urchins Not recorded
Titan Triggerfish a dark line above its lips. It has large, by flipping them over and biting them DEPTH
strong front teeth and strong spines in on their vulnerable underside, where 3–100 ft (1–30 m)
its first dorsal fin. The first and longer the spines are shorter.
Balistoides viridescens DISTRIBUTION Tropical reefs in Indian Ocean and
LENGTH spine can be locked in an upright South pacific, possibly extending to Mexico
Up to 30 in (75 cm) position and released by depressing the PROTECTIVE
WEIGHT second smaller “trigger” spine. This
Not recorded allows the fish to jam itself into a reef PARENT
DEPTH crevice, where it can rest safely, away
3–160 ft (1–50 m) from potential predators. The titan In the breeding season, titan
DISTRIBUTION Tropical reefs of Red Sea, Indian triggerfish preys on shellfish and triggerfish dig a nest in a sandy
Ocean, and southwestern Pacific crustaceans, which it crunches up patch of coral rubble using
their mouth as a water jet.
The female lays her eggs
in the nest and one or
both of the parents
remains nearby to guard it.
Normally a wary fish, parent
titan triggerfish will attack
divers that come too close
to the nest and can inflict
severe bites that need Instead of a covering of scales, all
medical attention. boxfish are protected by a rigid box
of fused bony plates under the skin.
This means they cannot bend their
OCEAN LIFE propulsion and is also used to help
body and must swim by beating their
pectoral fins. A large tail gives some
steer them like a rudder. Male spotted
boxfish are more colorful than the
females, which are brown with light
spots. These fish secrete a poisonous
slime from their skin that protects
them from predators.