The plate fish (''Bothus lunatus'') is a

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuary, estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related speci ...

in the genus ''

Bothus ''Bothus'' is a genus of flatfish in the family Bothidae (lefteye flounders) from the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Some species in this genus have spots consisting of blue rings. Species There are currently 17 recognized species in this ...

'', found in the warmer parts of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

including the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. Its typical habitat is sandy plains near

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s and it is able to change its colouring to make it well-camouflaged in this environment. It is sometimes known as the peacock flounder, a name also given to the closely related ''

Bothus mancus The peacock flounder (''Bothus mancus''), also known as the flowery flounder, is a species of fish in the family Bothidae (lefteye flounders). The species is found widely in relatively shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific, also ranging into warmer ...

'' from the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

Description

''Bothus lunatus'' has a laterally flattened body and orientates itself so that its right side is underneath and its left side is uppermost. Both eyes are on this upper surface and project on short thick stalks. The body shape is rounded and the dorsal and anal fins nearly surround the body. The former has 92 to 99 soft rays and the latter 71 to 76. The pectoral fins are long and often erect. An average adult length is about , with a maximum length of . The upper surface of this flounder is some shade between grey, brown and tan with small blue spots and circular blue markings, the head and fins also being spotted and speckled with blue. There are two or three rather diffuse dark patches on the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

. The fish can vary its background colour to make it closely resemble that of its surroundings and thus camouflage itself as it lies on the seabed. Fish in this genus are able to change their colouring in two to eight seconds.

Distribution and habitat

''Bothus lunatus'' is found in tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Its range extends from Florida, the Bahamas and Bermuda to Brazil, but it is absent from the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. It also occurs in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...

and

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

. It is usually found between deep but may occur as deep as . Its typical habitat is sandy areas near

s, in

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

s or near

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

s. It is also sometimes found over rubble or hard substrates and is one of the most common flounders near coral reefs.

Behaviour

''Bothus lunatus'' is well-camouflaged as it lies on the sandy seabed, often partially submerged in the sediment. It is more visible when it swims, which it does in a series of short glides, remaining close to the rippled sand contours of the ocean floor. In the Caribbean, a small octopus, '' Macrotritopus defilippi'', mimics these bursts of swimming activity, a behaviour which might afford it protection from

predators Predation is a biological interaction in which 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 ...

large enough to take a bite out of a soft-bodied octopus but too small to tackle a rigid flounder. In the West Indies, ''Bothus lunatus'' largely feeds on fishes, which make up 85.7% of its diet by volume, and particularly on herrings in the genus ''

Jenkinsia ''Jenkinsia'' is a genus of round herring in the family Spratelloididae. They are found in the central western Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Four recognized species are placed in this genus. Species ''Jenkinsia' ...

'' and the

bigeye scad The bigeye scad or big-eyed scad (''Selar crumenophthalmus'') is a species of oceanic fish found in tropical regions around the globe. Other common names include purse-eyed scad, goggle-eyed scad, akule, chicharro, charrito ojón, jacks, matang b ...

(''Selar crumenophthalmus''). Another 11.4% of its diet consists of

mantis shrimp Mantis shrimp are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 400 million years ago, with more than 520 extant species of mantis shrimp known. All li ...

s and 2.9% of

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

es. ''Bothus lunatus'' is believed to be an

ambush predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture their prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey u ...

, lying concealed on the seabed before darting out to catch any unwary prey that moves too close.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2753332 Bothidae Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of Aruba Marine fish of Nicaragua