FLOUNDER
Winter Founder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) have varying colors which reflect the areas that they, they can range from reddish brown to olive green to almost black. Their underside is white. Winter flounder are deeply compressed in shape and have a small mouth. Their eyes are located on their right side, thus making them a rightsided flounder. They have an almost straight lateral line. The maximum size or this species is around 23 inches in length and about 6 pounds in weight.Click here to see all of our Flounder
Feeding Habits: Adults feed on a great variety of organisms including shrimp, clams, polychaete worms, fish fry and bits of seaweed. Winter flounder feed mainly during daylight hours and are more active during flooding or ebbing tides than during slack water periods like most fish.
Reproduction: Both male and female winter flounder normally reach sexual maturity at 3 years of age. Most females produce roughly 500,000 eggs, and larger females around 1,500,00 eggs per year. Reproduction occurs in estuaries from January to May with the peak during the months of February and March when the water temperatures are the coldest of the year, ranging from 32 to 39 degrees F. Unlike the floating eggs of all other local flatfish, eggs of the winter flounder clump together in masses on the bottom. Eggs, usually laid on clean sand, hatch 15 to 18 days after being released.
By Kacey Karas