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Spotting

Description:

pretty weird animal...

1 Species ID Suggestions

Plate fish
Bothus lunatus Plate fish


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9 Comments

a_m
a_m 11 years ago

Wow-really??!!

LivanEscudero
LivanEscudero 11 years ago

To a m, I encourage you to read about these fish, if you think the eyes look weird. Their position on the sea floor kind of looks like a ray, but they are actually laying on their side! When young they look like regular fish with each eye on each side of the body. Then one of the eyes will migrate to the other side of the body so they end up with both on one side. They then start to swim with the eyeless side down.

LivanEscudero
LivanEscudero 11 years ago

B. mancus Flowery flounder and also maybe with the common name Peacock Flounder seems to be an Indo Pacific species. My guess was this spotting in the Caribbean is lunatus.

LivanEscudero
LivanEscudero 11 years ago

I'm not a biologist so I don't know for sure. I copied my scientific name from my Humann/Deloach Reef Fish ID book. Also that is the name used here:
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/De...

a_m
a_m 11 years ago

Ok! thanks for the information. The eyes are so funny - on the top of this very flat body! (sorry for the pretty bad quality)

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 11 years ago

Hi LivanEscudero... wiki has the common name 'Peacock flounder' as Bothus mancus. ?

LivanEscudero
LivanEscudero 11 years ago

Oh and it is a fish. So you can change it from the other category.

LivanEscudero
LivanEscudero 11 years ago

This is a flounder, but a little hard to tell which. They can change color and patterns greatly like chameleons. The size in the picture is small for me to see other details. I have a feeling it's the Peacock Flounder (Bothus lunatus). But that is a guess.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 11 years ago

I think it's some kind of flounder.

a_m
Spotted by
a_m

Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Spotted on Jul 24, 2010
Submitted on Feb 24, 2013

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