''Paralichthys adspersus'', the fine flounder, is a species of large-tooth flounder native to the eastern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, along the continental shelf from the coast of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

in the north to the coast of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

in the south. It is a medium-sized flatfish, growing up to 70 cm in length, with females typically being larger than males. It is a game fish, caught by an artisanal

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place (a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

off the Peruvian coast. The species is a

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

, feeding off smaller fishes in its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

. ''Paralichthys adspersus'' was first collected by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

in the Galapagos Islands and was described in 1842 as ''Hippoglossus kingii'', which would have placed it in the left-eye flounder family. However, the description of ''H. kingii'' has been determined to lack sufficient information to absolutely determine which species it describes and is thus considered ambiguous and therefore is not valid.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1885417 Paralichthyidae Fish of the Pacific Ocean Western South American coastal fauna Galápagos Islands coastal fauna Fish described in 1867