Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus, 1758

European plaice

Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Classification	Actinopterygii \| Pleuronectiformes \| Pleuronectidae \| Pleuronectinae
Synonyms	Platessa platessa, Platessa latus, Pleuronectes borealis, ... more
Common names	Plie d'Europe, Solla europea, Hen fish, ... more

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Pleuronectes platessa

Picture by Østergaard, T.

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AquaMaps Data sources: GBIF OBIS

Main reference

Cooper, J.A. and F. Chapleau. 1998. (Ref. 30193)
Other references | Biblio | Coordinator : Amaoka, Kunio | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 100.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4705); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); max. published weight: 7,000 g (Ref. 173); max. reported age: 50 years (Ref. 173)

Length at first maturity

L_m 30.4, range 30 - 35 cm

Environment

Demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 200 m (Ref. 35388), usually 10 - 50 m (Ref. 35388)

Climate / Range

Temperate; 2°C - 15°C (Ref. 5504); 73°N - 20°N, 47°W - 45°E

Northeast Atlantic: Greenland and Norway south to Morocco; Spain and France in the western Mediterranean. Also known from the White Sea (Ref. 4705) and Estonia (Ref. 33247).
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

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.

Adults live on mixed bottoms, the older the deeper the occurrence. Small individuals are usually seen on bathing beaches (Ref. 9988). 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).


IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 57073)	Threat to humans
Least Concern (LC)	Harmless

Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums


More information
Countries FAO areas Ecosystems Occurrences Introductions Ecology Diet Food items Food consumption Ration	Common names Synonyms Metabolism Predators Ecotoxicology Reproduction Maturity Spawning Eggs Egg development	Age/Size Growth Length-weight Length-length Length-frequencies Morphometrics Morphology Larvae Larval dynamics Recruitment Abundance	Other references Biblio Aquaculture Aquaculture profile Strains Genetics Allele frequencies Heritability Diseases Processing	Collaborators Pictures Stamps Sounds Ciguatera Speed Swim. type Gill area Otoliths Brains Vision

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