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Fourspot flounder

Hippoglossina oblonga

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size Maximum size 41 cm total length.
Diagnostic characters
Habitat, biology, and fisheries Inhabits bays and sounds in the northern part of the range; in progressively deeper water to 275 m or more, off Florida. Occurs in waters 8.9 to 13.9 degrees C. Spawns from May through October; peak spawning in July. Spawning begins in the southern portions of the range and progresses northward in response to increasing water temperatures. Eggs are buoyant, 0.9 to 1.12 mm in diameter with a single oil globule of 0.16 to 0.19 mm. No information on age at maturity or fecundity, but gravid females in the New York Bight ranged in size from 15 to 42 cm total length. Active during daylight hours; feeds during the day. Feeds on amphipods, mysids, and shrimps; older fishes (greater than 20 cm total length) include crabs, squids, and small fishes in the diet. No directed commercial or recreational fishery; often combined with other landings of miscellaneous flatfishes.
Distribution Georges Bank to south Florida (Dry Tortugas).
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.