Long Rough Dab

The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 21 609 t. The countries with the largest catches were Russian Federation (7 878 t) and Iceland (3 833 t). Marketed fresh and frozen; eaten steaamed, fried, microwaved and baked.

On soft bottoms,most often at depths of 10-400 m, more abundant from 90 to 250 m deepand bottom temperatures of -0.5 to 2.5º C. Lives on soft bottoms.Its food consists of crustaceans of various kinds, worms, molluscs, and brittlestars, and rather few fish. Spawns in spring, between January and June, the eggs and larvae being pelagic until the latter reach a length of 2-3 cm, when they live in mid-water; the Long rough dab becomes sexually mature after 2 or 3 years, but in the far north after 7 to 10 years. It lives for some 17-20 years; but all such old fish are females.

May attain 51-52 cm; usually around 30 cm.

Off eastern Greenland and from the English Channel to the coast of Murmansk. Elsewhere, off western Greenland and from Newfoundland to Cape Cod (See remarks).

Body ovate or rather elongate, compressed. Eyes on the right side, separated by an obtuse, scaled ridge, the upper close to edge of head, but without vertical range. Snout as long as or shorter than eye; anterior margins of eyes about level. Mouth rather large, oblique; maxillary extending to below middle of eye or a little beyond; lower jaw a little projecting; anterior teeth of upper jaw not gratly enlarged, not forming distinct canines. 8 branchiostegal rays; 9 to 12 gillrakers on lower part of anterior arch. Scales ctenoid on ocular side, ctenoid or cycloid on blind side; 85 to 97 in lateral line, 26 to 44 between lateral line and middle of back. Lateral line nearly straight. Dorsal fin with (76) 78-98 (101) soft rays; origin above anterior part of eye. Anal fin with 60-79 rays. Contours of posterior parts of dorsal and anal fins (at least in adults) more or less convex. Pectoral of ocular side with 9 to 12 rays. Caudal with 18 or 19 rays (12 or 13 branched), double-truncate; caudal peduncle as long as deep or a little deeper than long. Colour brownish with or without some darker spots of varying size; fins generally paler.

Epitheliocystis. Bacterial diseases

Most abundant from 90 m to 250 m deep and bottom temperatures of -0.5 to 2.5°C (Ref. 6263). Lives on soft bottoms (Ref. 9988). Benthic (Ref. 58426). Feeds on polychaetes, echinoderms, molluscs, crustaceans and fish. It is preyed upon by cod, halibut and Greenland sharks. Parasites of the species include 3 protozoans, 15 trematodes, 2 cestodes, 7 nematodes (including the sealworm Phocanema decipiens), 3 acanthocephalans and 2 copepods (Ref. 5951).

Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Slender body and a large mouth. Dorsal fin starts above left eye. Lateral line almost straight. Rough scales (Ref. 35388).

Adults are most abundant from 90 m to 250 m deep and bottom temperatures of -0.5 to 2.5°C (Ref. 6263). Live on soft bottoms (Ref. 9988, 58426). Feed on invertebrates and small fishes. Batch spawner (Ref. 51486). Marketed fresh and frozen; eaten steamed, fried, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).

fisheries: highly commercial; price category: high; price reliability: reliable: based on ex-vessel price for this species

The American plaice, American sole or long rough dab (Hippoglossoides platessoides) is a North Atlantic flatfish that belongs, along with other right-eyed flounders, to the family Pleuronectidae. In the northwest Atlantic (H. p. platessoides) it ranges from Greenland and Labrador to Rhode Island, and in the northeast Atlantic (H. p. limandoides) it ranges from Murmansk to the English Channel, Ireland and Iceland. They live on soft bottoms at depths of 10 to 3,000 m (33–9,843 ft), but mainly between 90 and 250 m (300–820 ft).

In the Gulf of Maine spawning peaks in April and May. They grow to a maximum length of 70 centimetres (28 in). The species is considered by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization to be overfished, with no signs of recovery. On the other hand, the Canadian government believes the species is abundant, and counts it as the second most caught flatfish, totalling 50% of the flatfish caught by Canadian fishermen. A 1997 study reports that plaice are endangered in Canada due to overfishing. In its European range, the species is generally common and not actively sought by fishers, but it is often part of the bycatch.

American plaice may be an intermediate host for the nematode parasite Otostrongylus circumlitis, which is a lungworm of seals, primarily affecting animals less than 1 yr of age.

Feeds on invertebrates and small fishes

Southern Labrador and Western Greenland to Rhode Island

Found on soft bottoms at depths of 10- 400 m.

benthic