Pacific dab
| Pacific dab | ||||||||||||
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Pacific dab ( Limanda aspera ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Limanda aspera | ||||||||||||
| ( Pallas , 1814) |
The Pacific or rough dab ( Limanda aspera ) is a species of fish from the flatfish family (Pleuronectidae). It comes in the North Pacific from the coast of Korea , Japan across the Bering Sea to Canada before and is commercially and by sport anglers fished .
features
Pacific dabs reach a length of up to 52 cm and a weight of up to 1.7 kg. Their body is relatively broad and brownish in color. The fins are monochrome or have small dark spots or stripes. Young animals also show dark spots on the head and body. The mouth is small with a slightly elongated snout. The upper jaw reaches less than a third of the length of the head. The teeth are bluntly conical and, like the jaws, more developed on the blind side. The top of the head is flat.
The side line shows a clear curvature above the pectoral fin . 74 to 90 scales lie above it. The dorsal fin begins above the rear edge of the eye and has 61 to 77 soft rays. The caudal fin has rounded corners. The anal fin has 48 to 58 soft rays, the bluntly pointed pectoral fins have 9 to 13. The gill trap counts 3 to 9 plus 5 to 10 on the first arch.
Way of life
In summer, the Pacific dabs predominantly colonize sandy shallow waters to a depth of around 50 meters. They live on the ground, but occasionally migrate to higher areas of the water column. In autumn and winter, the animals gather in dense schools at depths of 100 to 270 meters, possibly to escape the cold surface water. The main prey used is invertebrates that are ingested from the substrate or its surface, but also free-swimming crustaceans and small fish. Besides humans, the main predators are halibut and the northern fur seal .
Spawning occurs mainly in June and July. The eggs - one to three million per female - are free-swimming, as are the larvae up to an age of around four to five months. At a length of around 17 millimeters, they transform into the typical flatfish shape and become ground-dwelling.
The presumed maximum age is 26 years.
use
Pacific dabs are caught with bottom trawls and lines and are marketed frozen. The main catching nation is the USA .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Pacific dab on Fishbase.org (English)
- ↑ a b Species Fact Sheet of the FAO (English)
- ↑ a b National Research Council (US). Committee on the Bering Sea Ecosystem: The Bering Sea ecosystem . National Academy Press, Washington DC 1996, ISBN 0-309-05345-5 , pp. 93 .