Arctic flounder
Arctic flounder | ||||||||||||
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Arctic flounder ( Liopsetta glacialis ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Liopsetta glacialis | ||||||||||||
( Pallas , 1776) |
The Arctic flounder ( Liopsetta glacialis ) is a flatfish found in coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean . Its distribution area extends from the White Sea over the Barents Sea , the coast of Siberia , the Chukchi Sea , the Bering Sea , the northern Sea of Okhotsk and the coast of northern North America to the Queen Maud Gulf in arctic Canada.
features
The Arctic flounder grows to a maximum of 35 cm long, but usually stays at 15 to 25 cm. It has an oval, asymmetrical, laterally strongly flattened body. In the course of the metamorphosis, the right side of your body becomes the top on which both eyes sit. The top is brownish to olive-gray in color and patterned with black spots of different sizes. The dorsal, anal and caudal fins are also patterned with spots. The pectoral and throaty pelvic fins are light brown and without spots or spots. The ventral side is white. The fish have very small scales, the males comb scales , the females round scales. The sideline is almost straight, also above the pectoral fins. Bone humps, which in the flounder ( Platichthys flesus ) accompany the lateral line and the base of the dorsal and anal fin, are missing. The small, terminal mouth does not reach under the eye. The gill cover has a free edge. On the first gill arch one counts 10 to 14 gill trap rays (15–22 in the flounder).
- Fin formula : dorsal 50–62, anal 35–44.
- Vertebra: 37-38
Way of life
The arctic flounder never lives far from the coast in shallow depths and especially on muddy bottoms. It is often found in brackish water and often migrates to freshwater for food, but returns to the sea to reproduce. In the evening and when the tide rises, it approaches the coast even closer. It feeds on bottom-dwelling invertebrates, especially mussels and snails, and small fish. The spawning season in the Kara Sea lasts from January to February, in the White Sea the fish spawn in May at water temperatures around 0 ° C. Eggs and larvae are pelagic .
Hazardous situation
The International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN has the Arctic flounder on the Red List of Endangered Species , but it is currently assessed as " Least Concern " . It is a widespread species for which no significant threats are known.
literature
- Fritz Terofal: Steinbach's natural guide, freshwater fish. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-80014-296-1
Web links
- Arctic flounder on Fishbase.org (English)
- Liopsetta glacialis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008 Posted by: J. Freyhof and M. Kottelat, 2008. Accessed January 21, 2011th