You can sponsor this page

Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus, 1758

European plaice
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Pleuronectes platessa   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Videos | Stamps, coins, misc. | Google image
Image of Pleuronectes platessa (European plaice)
Pleuronectes platessa
Picture by Greenfield, J.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes) > Pleuronectidae (Righteye flounders) > Pleuronectinae
Etymology: Pleuronectes: Greek, pleura = side, ribe + Greek, nekton = swimmer (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 200 m (Ref. 35388), usually 10 - 50 m (Ref. 35388). Temperate; 2°C - 15°C (Ref. 5504); 72°N - 36°N, 47°W - 45°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Northern Sea. Reports from the Mediterranean Sea appear to be misidentifications of P. flesus. It may have been present in some areas of the Mediterranean in the past, as a result of climatic changes related to the ice age, but at present times seem to be absent (Ref. 89040).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 32.7, range 24 - 42 cm
Max length : 100.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4705); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); max. published weight: 7.0 kg (Ref. 173); max. reported age: 50 years (Ref. 173)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 65 - 79; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 48 - 59. Smooth with small scales. Bony ridge behind the eyes. Upper side brown or greenish brown with irregularly distributed bright red or orange spots. The underside is white. Lateral line straight, slightly curved above pectoral fin. Dorsal fin reaching eye. More than 30 vertebrae.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults live on mixed bottoms, the older the deeper the occurrence; small individuals are usually seen on bathing beaches (Ref. 9988). Occurs on mud and sand bottom from a few meters down to about 100 m, at sea, estuaries and rarely entering freshwaters (Ref. 59043). Reported as resident intertidal species with homing behavior (Ref. 32612). Feed mainly on thin-shelled mollusks and polychaetes. Batch spawner (Ref. 51846). The most important flatfish for fisheries in Europe. Utilized fresh and frozen; eaten steamed, fried, boiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988). Active at night in the very shallow water while day time is spent buried in the sand. Stationary for long periods, tagging experiments have shown that their spawning migrations can be long. Changes in the environmental conditions have been disadvantageous. Populations in Kattegat and Danish belts decreased in 1980's and early 1990's due to discharge of nutritive salts. Wadden sea is still an excellent nursery ground (Ref.35388).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Adult spawn when the temperature is around 6 °C (Ref. 4705).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Amaoka, Kunio | Collaborators

Vinnikov, K.A., R.C. Thomson and T.A. Munroe, 2018. Revised classification of the righteye flounders (Teleostei: Pleuronectidae) based on multilocus phylogeny with complete taxon sampling. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 125:147-162. (Ref. 122998)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 22 October 2013

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | OsteoBase: skull, spine | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 6.8 - 12.4, mean 10.2 °C (based on 658 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00776 (0.00685 - 0.00880), b=3.07 (3.03 - 3.11), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 9.2 (7.1 - 11.6) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 17 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.06-0.34; tm=2-6; tmax=30; Fec=50,000).
Prior r = 0.50, 95% CL = 0.33 - 0.75, Based on 28 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (71 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (43 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 25.4 [8.2, 51.7] mg/100g; Iron = 0.202 [0.084, 0.542] mg/100g; Protein = 17.3 [15.3, 19.8] %; Omega3 = 0.249 [0.118, 0.544] g/100g; Selenium = 29.6 [10.5, 80.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 6.73 [1.77, 26.29] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.475 [0.263, 0.968] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.