Fish of the Citharus genus of the Citharidae (largescale flounders) family of the Pleuronectoidei suborder of the Pleuronectiformes (flatfishes) order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Spotted flounder. Photo by © Federico Pallottino. fishbase.org)
Spotted flounder (Citharus linguatula) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778).
It lives at the depth of up to 300 meters. It prefers to swim near the sandy and muddy bottom. The maximum recorded length is 30 cm; specimens up to 15 cm long are more common. It feeds on small fish and crustaceans.
(Spotted flounder. Photo © go.fishing.at.dawn. flickr.com)
It is a permanent and infrequent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea, more common in its northern and southern parts.
Names of spotted flounder (Citharus linguatula) in other languages are as follows:
Paroshja (Albanian), Κιθαροζακέτα (Kitharozaketa) (Greek), Solleta (Spanish), Linguattola (Italian), Großschuppige Scholle (German), Carta-de-bico (Portuguese), Крупночешуйная цитара (Krupnocheshujnaja citara) (Russian) Patarača, Platušica (Serbian, Croatian), Velikoluska atlantska plošča (Slovenian), Kancaağız pisi balığı (Turkish), Feuille (French).