Monday, March 05, 2007
Feeling a little flat?
This is a peacock flounder, a type of flatfish classified as a left-eye flounder. This is because if you held it vertically upright both eyes would be on the left side. The peacock bit should be self explanatory.
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6 comments:
Hi Tai Haku,
Thanks for leaving a comment in my post Adding an image to your blog header. I have responded to your comment.
Peter a.k.a. enviroman
Enviroman Says
I was wondering about the prominent blue spots. Most photos of flounder that I have seen recently show the camouflage effect instead. Are the blue spots a form of reaction to danger or a display?
Peter - many thanks.
John - I really don't know but a lot of flatfish have something similar and I think they are used as a sort of shock distraction tactic. Typically when they are sat the blues will be muted or even completely absent. I think when they take off they increase the intensity for shock value vs. a predator. That said some individuals like this one seem to be pretty garish all the time.
Great shots.
How does an animal know which colors to change to??
Thanks Sandra,
Amy - You'd be surprised how mobile those eyes are; they can probably get a pretty good view of the bottom compared to what you might expect.
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