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Paralichthys californicus (Ayres, 1859)

California flounder
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Paralichthys californicus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Paralichthys californicus (California flounder)
Paralichthys californicus
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes) > Paralichthyidae (Large-tooth flounders)
Etymology: Paralichthys: Greek, para = the side of + Greek, ichthys = fish + Greek, suffix, oides = similar to (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Ayres.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 183 m (Ref. 2850), usually 0 - 60 m (Ref. 122321). Subtropical; 48°N - 24°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Pacific: Quillayute River in northern Washington, USA to southern Baja California, Mexico. Also in northern Gulf of California (Ref. 9330).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 47.3, range 47 - 51.3 cm
Max length : 152 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850); max. published weight: 33.0 kg (Ref. 9330); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 33520)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are found mostly on sandy bottoms near shore to 183 m depth. Juveniles are common beyond surf line, larvae settling in bays and estuaries (Ref. 122321). Adults feed during the day (Ref. 9643) on fishes and squids, often well off the bottom. An important sport and commercial fish. They are caught with trammel nets (Ref. 9330). Marketed as fresh fillet (Ref. 9330). Adults migrate to shallower waters to spawn (Ref. 9643). Has very sharp teeth and is known to bite if handled (Ref. 13513).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Distinct pairing (Ref. 205). They are batch spawners that exhibit indeterminate fecundiity and undergo asynchronous ovarian development (Ref. 122336). Spawning interval is between 7 and 14 days while spawning frequency is around 12 to 13 times per year.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Amaoka, Kunio | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 25 May 2007

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 13513)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | OceanAdapt | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 12.4 - 23.9, mean 19.8 °C (based on 48 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00646 (0.00364 - 0.01145), b=3.15 (3.00 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.63 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.08; tmax=30; tm=2.6).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (55 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (61 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 38.8 [16.9, 81.8] mg/100g; Iron = 0.81 [0.38, 1.56] mg/100g; Protein = 17.1 [14.7, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.207 [0.112, 0.387] g/100g; Selenium = 40.7 [19.2, 95.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 5.82 [1.41, 25.97] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.371 [0.244, 0.589] mg/100g (wet weight);