The yellowtail flounder (''Limanda ferruginea''), also known as the rusty dab, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flatfish A flatfish is a member of the Ray-finned fish, ray-finned demersal fish Order (biology), suborder Pleuronectoidei, also called the Heterosomata. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through or around ...

in the family

Pleuronectidae Pleuronectidae, also known as righteye flounders, are a family of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left sides, with both eyes on their right sides. The Paralichthyidae are the o ...

(righteye

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 ...

s). Reaching in length, it has reddish brown upperparts, pale underparts and yellow fins. Both its eyes are on the right (upper) side of its body. Found in the western

North 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 ...

, it has been fished commercially by North American fisheries for food. A victim of overfishing, the yellowtail flounder is categorized as "Vulnerable" by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

Taxonomy

The yellowtail flounder was originally described by German naturalist

Carl Moritz Gottsche Carl Moritz Gottsche (3 July 1808 – 28 September 1892) was a German physician and bryology, bryologist born in Altona, Hamburg, Altona. He was the father of geologist Carl Christian Gottsche (1859-1909). Gottsche was a leading authority of Hepat ...

as ''Limanda vulgaris'' in the ''

Archiv für Naturgeschichte ''Archiv für Naturgeschichte'' was a German-language journal for natural history. It was founded by A. F. A. Wiegmann in 1835. The journal was published in Berlin from 1835 to 1926. There were 92 published volumes. From 1912 to 1926 each volume w ...

'' in 1835. It was later documented as ''Platessa ferruginea'' by

David Humphreys Storer David Humphreys Storer (March 26, 1804 – September 10, 1891) was an American physician and naturalist. He served as dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 1855 to 1864. He identified numerous fish species and published ...

in 1839, who noted the similarity between it and ''

Limanda limanda The common dab (''Limanda limanda'') is an edible flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish native to shallow seas around Northern Europe, in particular the North Sea, where it lives on sandy bottoms down to depths of about . I ...

'' (then considered to be in the genus ''

Pleuronectes ''Pleuronectes'' is a genus of righteye flounders found in the northern oceans. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * ''Pleuronectes platessa'' Linnaeus, 1758 (European plaice) * '' Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus'' ...

''). He gave the species the common name of "rusty dab". Later, both ''P. limanda'' and ''P. ferruginea'' were reclassified into the genus ''

Limanda ''Limanda'' is a genus of righteye flounders native to the northern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. A 2018 cladistic morphological and genetic analysis found that the genus is not monophyletic, and has proposed ''L. f ...

''. Meanwhile, American zoologist

Theodore Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist, and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural hist ...

had placed it in the new genus '' Myzopsetta'' in 1861. According to 1996 research from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

, ''L. ferruginea'' shares several morphologies with ''

Limanda aspera The yellowfin sole (''Limanda aspera'') is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish that lives on soft, sandy bottoms at depths of up to , though it is most commonly found at depths of around . Its native habitat is the temp ...

'', but that the

monophyly In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent comm ...

of the genus ''Limanda'' as a whole is unlikely. A 2018

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

morphological and genetic analysis found that the genus ''Limanda'' is not monophyletic; ''L. ferruginea'' and its relatives the longhead dab (''L. proboscidea'') and speckled flounder (''L. punctatissima'') are in a different

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

to the other members of the genus and should be (once again) placed in the genus ''Myzopsetta''.

Description

The yellowtail flounder is a wide

with an ovoid body, about half as broad as it is long. The name "yellowtail" comes from the distinctly yellowish color of its

fins A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foil (fluid mechanics), foils that produce lift (force), lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while travelin ...

(including tail fin); the fish's upper side is reddish brown with irregular "rusty" spots, while the underside is white with a yellow

caudal peduncle Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

(area between body and tail). Being a right-eyed flounder (of the family

), both its eyes are on the right side of the fish's body, though the eyes are symmetrical just after hatching. It is thinner than other flatfish. The fish's head is approximately a quarter as long as the total body and is scaly. The eye's diameter is approximately one fifth the length of the head. The yellowtail flounder has a prominent lower jaw with broad lips, about as long as the eye. The scales are ciliated (having hair-like protrusions) and appear on the head as well. The teeth are small. Its

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

, comprising about 80

rays Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...

, begins over the eye and has longer rays near the middle. The

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

has a similar outline, but is only composed of about 60 rays. Relative to other flounders in the

Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northea ...

, the yellowtail flounder has a narrower and more concave head, with a pointier snout. According to the

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...

(NMFS), yellowtail flounders can grow to a length of , weighing up to . Specimens up to have been caught before.

Distribution and habitat

The yellowtail flounder is found in the western

North Atlantic Ocean 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 ...

, off the east coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Specimens have been found as far north as

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and southern

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

and as far south as

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

. It is common on the

Scotian Shelf The Scotian Shelf is a geological formation that is part of the continental shelf southwest of Nova Scotia, Canada. It covers an area of , is long, and has a width from . It has an average depth of . The Scotian Shelf contains the ecologically imp ...

, on

ocean bank An ocean bank, sometimes referred to as a fishing bank or simply bank, is a part of the seabed that is shallow compared to its surrounding area, such as a shoal or the top of an underwater hill. Somewhat like continental slopes, ocean bank ...

s such as the

Grand Banks of Newfoundland The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...

and

Georges Bank Georges Bank (formerly known as St. Georges Bank) is a large elevated area of the sea floor between Cape Cod, Massachusetts (United States), and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Canada). It separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean. ...

. Three

fish stocks Fish stocks are population, subpopulations of a particular species of fish, for which intrinsic parameters (growth, recruitment, mortality and fishing mortality) are traditionally regarded as the significant factors determining the Population ...

exist in US waters: in the

area, on Georges Bank, and off southern

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and the

Mid-Atlantic Mid-Atlantic or Mid Atlantic can refer to: *The middle of the Atlantic Ocean *Mid-Atlantic English, any mix between British and American English *Mid-Atlantic Region (Little League World Series), one of the United States geographic divisions of the ...

. In Canada, yellowtail are concentrated in NAFO divisions 4X (Browns Bank, near Georges Bank, at ), 4W (

Sable Island Sable Island (, literally "island of sand") is a small, remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Sable Island is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, about southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, and about southeast of the clo ...

Bank, ), and 4V (Banquereau, ). The larvae of ''L. ferruginea'' remain near the surface for two months, but after maturing to a length of at least , they dwell on sandy or muddy seafloors at a depth between . As they live considerably deeper than other species of flounder, they are rarely seen along shores.

Ecology

Yellowtail flounders have been reported to live up to seventeen years, but most die by age seven. They mature relatively early with females being able to reproduce by age three,

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

in the spring and summer. The

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

(measuring approximately in diameter) float to the surface and drift for approximately two months. The early larval stages closely resemble that of the

winter flounder The winter flounder (''Pseudopleuronectes americanus''), also known as the black back, is a right-eyed ("Sinistral and dextral, dextral") flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is native to coastal waters of the western north Atlantic Ocean, A ...

, though the appearance of the fin rays differentiates them. They eat

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s (including

amphipod Amphipoda () is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphipod species cur ...

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

mysid Mysida is an order of small, shrimp-like crustaceans in the malacostracan superorder Peracarida. Their common name opossum shrimps stems from the presence of a brood pouch or "marsupium" in females. The fact that the larvae are reared in thi ...

s, and

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

) as well as

marine worm Any worm that lives in a ocean, marine environment (biophysical), environment is considered a sea or marine worm. Marine worms are found in several different phylum (biology), phyla, including the Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida (segmented ...

s, and are preyed on by other fish such as

spiny dogfish The spiny dogfish (''Squalus acanthias''), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order. While these common names may apply to several ...

and

skate Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish *Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae * Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae * Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongin ...

. Yellowtail flounders are able to

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

, changing the pattern of their skin to mimic the seafloor.

Fishing and conservation

Yellowtail flounders have been commonly fished in

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its northern and sout ...

and

Cape Cod Bay Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Measuring below a line drawn from Brant Rock in Marshfield to Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south ...

since the 1800s, after

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

and otter trawls were introduced to fisheries in the area. In 1908, a total of of yellowtail and winter flounder was caught near

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

, an estimated half of which was yellowtail. In the US, fishing of yellowtail flounder is governed by the NMFS. More than of yellowtail flounder was commercially caught in American waters in 2020 (the vast majority in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

), valued at over $1 million. In federal waters, there is a minimum allowed size of . Populations of fishable yellowtail flounder have declined from the 1980s into the late 1990s in Canada, especially in divisions 4V and 4W, after which the rate of fishery declined. ''L. ferruginea'' is currently categorized as "Vulnerable" by the

. According to the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

, yellowtail flounder are being overfished, as well as several other species of flounder. According to NMFS, the fishing rate is being reduced at Georges Bank and there are rebuilding plans to increase populations of all three stocks. Yellowtail flounders are fished between late fall and spring, usually with a

trawl net Trawling is an industrial method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch di ...

gillnet Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

. Hooks are ineffective as their mouths are small.

As food

Yellowtail flounder is sweet and mild, while being a lean source of

B vitamin B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referred to as a vit ...

s, including

niacin Nicotinic acid, or niacin, is an organic compound and a vitamer of vitamin B3, an essential human nutrient. It is produced by plants and animals from the amino acid tryptophan. Nicotinic acid is also a prescription medication. Amounts f ...

. The texture is delicate and flaky.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:flounder, yellowtail yellowtail flounder Fish of the North Atlantic Fauna of Atlantic Canada Fauna of the Northeastern United States Taxa named by David Humphreys Storer yellowtail flounder Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN