A flounder in the hand is worth two in the water. This is a very young Gulf Flounder. Notice the 2 eyes on one side of his body. Flounder start out there life with eyes on opposite sides like most fish, but then one eye will migrate until both are on the same side. The flounder is an ambush predator who lies on the bottom watching for shrimp or fish to swim by. Flounder have special pigment cells in their skin called "chromatophores". These are essentially bags of pigment that the flounder can expand or contract to change it's skin color to match the bottom. This youngster was caught in a cast net and released to grow up.
2 comments:
Very cool picture. I use to live in Florida, I miss the fishing. I don't think that one is a keeper
You're right. This one was definitely not a keeper. I let it go hoping we would meet again a couple of pounds from now. Thanks for visiting the site.
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