Peacock Flounder

Description:

Photo take at -30 ft in a sand area next to a Caribbean reef. This fish have both eyes on top of the left hand side of their heads. The eyes are raised up like small dishes, can move independent to any direction so they can cover almost 360°, incredible.

Habitat:

Inhabitant of the shallow sand areas near to a reef find from Florida all the Caribbean sea to Brazil.

Notes:

They use cryptic coloration to avoid being detected by both prey and predators. Whenever possible rather than swim they crawl on their fins along the bottom while constantly changing colors and patterns. In a study, peacock flounders demonstrated the ability to change colors in just eight seconds. They were even able to match the pattern of a checkerboard they were placed on. The changing of the colors is an extremely complex and not well understood process. It involves the flounder's vision and hormones. The flounders match the colors of the surface by releasing different pigments to the surface of the skin cells while leaving some of the cells white by suppressing those pigments. If one of the flounder's eyes is damaged or covered by sand, the flounders have difficulties in matching their colors to their surroundings. Whenever hunting or hiding from predators, the flounders bury themselves into the sand leaving only the eyes protruding. Wikipedia.