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Freshwater Fish of Victoria - Flounders | FN0075 |
Charles Barnham PSM
May, 1998 |  |
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© State of Victoria, Department of Natural Resources and Environment 2002 Page 1
Common Name:
Long-snouted Flounder
Other Name/s:
Sole
Family:
Pleuronectidae
Scientific Name:
Ammotretis rostratus (Gunther, 1862)
Status:
Native, Estuarine/Freshwater
Description
Both eyes usually on right side of head. Snout extends down to the end of the upper jaw. Pectoral fins of equal size and length. Right ventral fin is larger than the left. Straight lateral line. Colour is dark to light brown, often with small dark spots.
Distribution
Found throughout coastal Victoria, mainly in estuarine habitats, occasionally in fresh water just upstream of estuaries.
Habitat
Commonly found over sandy or muddy substrates to a depth of at least 80 metres. Juveniles are common in shallow bays and estuaries, and sometimes enter fresh water.
Brief Biology
Grows to 34 cm in length. Little is known of its biology, though some generalisations may prove apt. Most flounders are predatory carnivores, feeding on bottom fauna insects, snails etc, and on small fish. Adults possibly lay hundreds of thousands of eggs and hatched larvae are planktonic for a while, until they metamorphose. One eye migrates across the snout to the right side, and they become bottom living.
Common Name:
Greenback Flounder
Other Name/s:
Melbourne flounder
Family:
Pleuronectidae
Scientific Name:
Rhombosolea tapirina (Gunther, 1862)
Status:
Native, estuarine/Freshwater
Description
Both eyes usually on the right side of the head, except in very young fish. Dorsal fin is very long, beginning on the head in front of the eyes. Left ventral fin usually absent, right ventral fin united with the anal fin. Colour is green or greyish, some larger fish having large dark blotches on the upper side. Lower surface is white.
Distribution
Found throughout coastal Victoria, mainly in estuaries, but occasionally in fresh water, just upstream of estuaries.
Habitat
Commonly found over sandy or silty substrates in bays and estuaries, down to 100 metres in depth. Juveniles are sometimes found penetrating up streams into fresh water.
Brief Biology
Grows to 38 cm in length and 600g in weight, making it one of the largest and most abundant flounder in Victorian waters. See Long-snouted Flounder for other notes.
Other Notes
A good quality eating fish.
General Notes
Young fish have eyes placed normally i.e. on each side of the head, but soon the fish begins to lie over on one side, and the lower eye travels across to the upper side of the head, next to the upper eye. Mouth becomes twisted in a peculiar fashion. One pectoral fin is reduced in size or is completely absent. Ventral fins develop unequally. The side of the body on which the eyes are situated is not consistent. To determine which way the specimen has developed, place the Flounder on a flat surface with the gill opening downward, the tail toward the observer. The original left and right sides of the fish will then match the observers right and left hands.
Regulations
Recreational Fishing Licence requirements, and the regulations affecting the taking of flounder in Victoria, are provided in the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide, available from RFL sales agents and DPI Offices.
Freshwater Fish of Victoria
is a series of brief information material on the native and introduced freshwater fish of Victoria's inland waters. Further, detailed reading on Flounders is contained in:
Marine and Freshwater Fishes of South Australia
T D Scott, C J M Glover and R V Soutcott
Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia - An Illustrated Guide
Australian Fisheries Service, Canberra
FOV #35 - Flounders
Prepared with the assistance of Tarmo Raadik.
This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its officers do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.
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