Lefteye Flounder Family – Bothidae

There are currently FIVE members of the Lefteye Flounder or Bothidae Family, three form the Atlantic Ocean and two from the Pacific Ocean,  are presented in this website:

FROM THE ATLANTIC (3):

FROM THE PACIFIC (2):

The Lefteye Flounder or Bothidae Family has one hundred sixty global members that are in twenty genera and found globally in temperate and tropical sea. Thirteen species are found in Mexican waters, eight in the Atlantic Ocean and five in the Pacific Ocean. They are known in Mexico as lenguados chuecos. They are small to mid-sized flounders of variable shapes with oval to elongated highly flattened disc-like bodies. They are all left-eyed with an arched lateral line on their eyed-side. They reach a maximum length of 45 cm (18 inches).

The Lefteye Flounders have a tan or light brown coloration with the eyed-side having spots, blotches or rings; their ventral size is light colored. They are often sexually dimorphic with differences in the separation of their eyes and length of their pectoral fins. In some species the males have dark colors. They have an asymmetrical protrusible mouth with a prominent lower jaw; most have visible canine teeth and a visible gill cover. They start life as pelagic fishes with bilateral symmetry with an eye on each side of the head. During larval development they through a metamorphosis during which one eye migrates from one side of the head to the other so that both eyes are eventually positioned on the same side of the head. Their anal and dorsal fins contain numerous segmented rays and are separated from the caudal fin. Their dorsal fin originates above or ahead of their eyes. They have both pectoral and pelvic fins with the eyed-side pelvic fin having a long base situated on the body mid-line and originating before the blind-side pelvic fin. They do not have fin spines.

The Lefteye Flounders typically inhabit sandy and muddy bottoms being well camouflaged and blending into their surroundings and they have the ability to change colors to match the substrate. They consume fish and crustaceans. The Lefteye Flounders are poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

From a conservation perspective the Lefteye Flounders are either considered to be of Least Concern of have not been formally evaluated.  They are relatively small in stature and are not important commercially.