Paralichthys lethostigma

Paralichthys lethostigma, the southern flounder, is a species of large-tooth flounders native to the eastern and gulf coasts of the United States. It is a popular sports fish and is the largest and most commercially valuable flounder in the western North Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. It is a 'left-eyed flounder', meaning the left side is pigmented and is the 'up side'. The body color is brown with diffuse, unocellated spots and blotches. This species typically grows to around 12-14 inches in length. Larval and postlarval southern flounder feed on zooplankton. As juveniles, the southern flounder’s diet consists of small invertebrates, and shifts to larger invertebrates and fish as they reach adult size. Southern flounder feed on the bottom of the ocean and in the water column, and are considered to be near top predators. Adult fish breed and spend the warmer season in coastal embayments and nearshore shelf waters, where the eggs develop until they are late stage larvae, which are then pushed by currents into the estuaries where the fish settle into the sediment and grow into juveniles. The juveniles stay in the estuaries until they reach sexual maturity and leave to spawn. The southern flounder can survive in lower salinities and have even been found to use freshwater habitats both as juveniles and as adults. Juvenile southern flounder stay in estuaries, and most leave to spawn offshore during the fall and winter as adults. Young fish are eventually pushed into the estuaries by ocean currents to mature. Southern flounder reach sexual maturity around two years of age. Older, larger fish tend to begin the spawning migration earlier. Female fish both grow faster and live longer than males. The annual growth cycle of the southern flounder starts in the spring and ends in the fall as the water temperature decreases. Males live for around 5 years, and females live for around 7-8 years. The southern flounder is distributed across the western north Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. This species is listed by the IUCN as near threatened due to both commercial and recreational overfishing, and mortality from the shrimp trawl industry. This species is also affected by habitat destruction from human causes.