Dictionary:
plaice (plās)  |
[Middle English, from Old French plais, from Vulgar Latin *platīx, alteration of Late Latin platessa, probably ultimately from Greek platus, broad.]
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| Animal Encyclopedia: Plaice |
Pleuronectes platessa
FAMILY
Pleuronectidae
TAXONOMY
Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus, 1758, European seas.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: European plaice; French: Plie d'Europe, carrelet; German: Scholle; Spanish: Solla europea.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Dextral flatfish with a deep, oval body; a relatively large head; large eyes; a small mouth; and a series of four to seven bony knobs on the head along a curved line from the eyes back to the lateral line. Teeth are best developed on the jaws of the blind side. Strong, molariform pharyngeal teeth are present on the gill arches. Lateral line is curved slightly above the pectoral fin. Scales are cycloid on both sides of the body. Distinctive ocular side coloration, consisting of a uniformly brown background with brilliant red or orange spots. Blind side usually is
uniformly white. The species can reach lengths to about 39.4 in (100 cm) and weights up to 7.9 lb (3.6 kg), but most adults average only about 13.8–19.7 in (35–50 cm) and weights of about 2.2 lb (1 kg). Individuals can reach at least 30 years of age, but most are much younger. Females grow faster and live longer than males, which rarely live longer than 10–12 years.
DISTRIBUTION
Northeastern Atlantic Ocean in marine and sometimes estuarine waters from the White and Barents Seas southward to the North Sea, including the British Isles and western Baltic Sea; off Iceland; occasionally off Greenland; and along the European coast from Germany and Denmark south to Spain and Portugal and in the western Mediterranean Sea.
HABITAT
Usually found on the inner continental shelf from shallow waters to about 656 ft (200 m) but most abundant in 33–164 ft (10–50 m); usually occur in waters of 35.6–59°F (2–15°C). Most commonly found on sandy sediments but also occur on mud or gravel bottoms. Newly settled plaice recruit to inshore waters typically between 9.8 and 88.6 ft (3–27 m), and sometimes juveniles are found in sandy intertidal pools. Plaice can tolerate reduced salinity levels but do not usually penetrate estuaries to any great degree and are not typically found in freshwater reaches within estuaries. During their first year, young plaice generally are found in shallow waters. By their second year, they begin to move to deeper waters. Older and larger plaice tend to live deeper than smaller and younger plaice.
BEHAVIOR
A diurnally active, benthic fish that lies partially buried when possible. Plaice remain stationary for long periods of time, lying partially buried in the sediment. They are often active at night, especially in shallow water, and have been reported to exhibit homing behavior, at least in near-shore environments. Where there are tidal currents, the plaice orientates itself by pointing into the current and retains its position by pressing its dorsal and anal fins against the bottom. Many individuals congregate in the same general area. Plaice, including larger individuals, sometimes move on rising tides into intertidal areas to forage, retreating with the receding tide.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Opportunistic, visual predators that feed mainly during daylight hours. After metamorphosis, juvenile plaice consume small polychaete worms and harpacticoid copepods, but with increasing size their diet broadens to include a wider variety of prey, such as small crustaceans, amphipods, cumaceans, and small mollusks. Larger plaice consume a greater proportion of thin-shelled bivalve mollusks, especially the siphons of burrowing species (which they nip off using the teeth of their blind-side jaws), as well as gastropod mollusks, shrimps, small crabs, and various polychaete worms. Feeding activity varies with season (temperature), with higher feeding rates occurring during warmer periods than during wintertime. The plaice takes its food in a nearly horizontal position, with its head raised slightly off the bottom. Predators that consume plaice include sculpins, lumpfish, spiny dogfish, weaver fish, seals, and cormorants. Shrimps and ctenophores prey on plaice in the early-life stages.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Maturity schedules vary, depending upon the area where the fish live, their food supply, and ambient temperatures. Female plaice reach sexual maturity between three and seven years of age (11.8–15.7 in, or 30–40 cm) and males at two to six years of age (7.9–11.8 in, or 20–30 cm) in the North Sea. Plaice spawn throughout their range, usually on well-defined spawning grounds. The spawning season varies with latitude and location but usually occurs in the early months of the year throughout its range (December to March in the North Sea, February to March off Denmark, and March to April off Iceland), when water temperatures are about 42.8°F (6°C). Mature fish may undertake extensive migrations from feeding grounds to discrete spawning grounds. The extent of migration depends upon the individual stocks. Spawning grounds generally are located at depths of 66–131 ft (20–40 m). Males and females may pair up and swim one above the other during spawning. Plaice do not guard a nest but rather scatter eggs, which may number up to 50,000 during a spawning event. Eggs are planktonic at first, gradually sinking as development proceeds. Hatching occurs in 18–21 days, depending on temperature. The larval stage lasts between four and six weeks, after which the fish metamorphose at about 0.4–0.7 in (10–17 mm) in length.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened, although stock sizes have declined over time as a result of overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
One of the most familiar flatfishes in northern European waters, highly desired owing to its size, abundance, and edible qualities. It is the single most important commercial flatfish to the fisheries of Europe. The species also is targeted by a large recreational fishery. Plaice are considered a potential species for aquaculture and are kept as an aquarium species.
| Food and Nutrition: plaice |
Flat fish, Pleuronectus platessa.
| Food Lover's Companion: plaice |
[PLAYC] The American plaice, also called Canadian plaice and dab, is a member of the flounder family, which is found on both sides of the Atlantic. The fish can be various shades of reddish- to gray-brown and has a lowfat, fine-textured flesh with a mild, sweet flavor. The American plaice can get as large as 12 pounds but is usually marketed in the 2- to 3-pound range. It's available fresh and frozen, either whole or filleted. The European plaice, a similar fish but with different coloring, is found in the North Sea and is widely popular in Europe. Both the American and European plaice are suitable for almost any cooking method. See also fish; flatfish.
| Wikipedia: Plaice |
Plaice is a common name used for a group of flatfish. There are four species in the group, the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice
Commercially the most important plaice is the European plaice. This is the principal commercial flatfish in Europe. It is also widely fished recreationally, has potential as an aquaculture species, and is kept as an aquarium fish. Also commercially important is the American plaice.
The term plaice (plural plaice) comes from the 14th century Anglo-French plais. This in turn comes from the late Latin platessa, meaning flatfish, which originated from the Greek platys, meaning broad.[1]
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Distibution map for European plaice (Sea Around Us) |
The European plaice is a right-eyed flounder belonging to the Pleuronectidae family. They are a commercially important flatfish which lives on the sandy bottoms of the European shelf. They range geographically from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean. European plaice are characterised by their smooth brown skin, with distinctive red spots and bony ridge behind the eyes. They feed on polychaetes, crustaceans and bivalves and can be found at depths up to 200 metres. At night they move into shallow waters to feed, and during the day they bury themselves in the sand. Their maximum recorded length is 100 cm (39.4 inches), and maximum reported age 50 years.[3]
Together with sole, European plaice form a group of flatfish that are the most important flatfish in Europe.[4] European plaice have been fished from the North Sea for hundreds of years. They are usually fished from beam trawlers, otter trawlers or seiners.[5]
"Unfortunately though, most catches come from Europe’s single-most wasteful fishery - where more than half the plaice catch is thrown overboard, dead. A huge amount of other marine life hauled up in the nets is also dumped back in the sea"[4]
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Distibution map for American plaice (Sea Around Us) |
Like the European plaice, the American plaice is also a right eyed flatfish belonging to the Pleuronectidae family. American plaice are an Atlantic species.[8] They range from southern Labrador to Rhode Island. They are also found in Europe, where they are called the rough dab. They spawn in the Gulf of Maine, with peak activity in April and May. They are brown or reddish, and are generally smaller than European place with a rougher skin and larger scales. Their maximum recorded length is 82.6 cm (? inches), and maximum reported age 30 years. They are usually found between depths of 90 metres and 250 metres on sandy bottoms with temperatures between -0.5 and 2.5°C. They feed on small fishes and invertebrates.[9][10] The species is considered by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization to be overfished, with no signs of recovery.[11] On the other hand, the Canadian government believes the species is abundant. It is the second most caught flatfish in Canada, accounting for 50 percent of all flatfish caught.[12]
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. They are also currently endangered in Canada due to overfishing. [13]
Alaska plaice can live for up to 30 years, and grow to 60 centimetres (24 inches) long, but most that get caught are only seven or eight years old, and about 30 cm (12 in).[15]
Most commercial fisheries do not target Alaska plaice; but many are caught as bycatch by commercial trawlers trying to catch other bottom fish. Thus, many Alaska plaice get caught anyway, so much that, for example, the 2005 total allowable catch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) was reached before the end of May of that year.
The scale-eye plaice is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish that lives at depths from between 18 metres (59 ft) to 900 metres (3,000 ft). It can reach 46 centimetres (18 in) in length and can weigh up to 1.2 kilograms (2.6 lb). Its native habitat is the northern Pacific, primarily from the Sea of Okhotsk to Japan and Korea, though it is also found in the Bering Sea.[16]
In North German and Danish cuisine plaice is one of the most commonly eaten fishes. Filleted, battered and pan-fried plaice is popular hot or cold as an open sandwich topping together with remoulade sauce and lemon slices. Battered plaice can also be served hot with french fries and remoulade sauce as a main dish; this fish and chips variant is commonly available as a children's special in Danish restaurants. Breaded frozen plaice, ready to be baked or fried at home, are readily available in supermarkets. Fresh plaice is also oven-baked.
The flesh of plaice is white, tender and subtle-flavoured."[5] Plaice is sometimes used as the fish in fish and chips, in countries where the dish is popular.[17]
Plaice, along with the other major demersal fish in the North Sea such as cod, monkfish and sole, is listed by the ICES as "outside safe biological limits." Moreover, they are growing less quickly now and are rarely older than six years, whereas they can reach forty.[18] The World Wildlife Fund says that in 2006 that "of the eight plaice stocks recognised by ICES, only one is considered to be harvested sustainably while three are overexploited. Data is insufficient to assess the remaining stocks; however, landings for all stocks are at or near historical lows." [19]
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Plaice |
Français (French)
n. - carrelet
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιχθυολ.) πλευρονήκτης, πλατέσσα, πησσί
Italiano (Italian)
passera di mare, platessa
Português (Portuguese)
n. - linguado (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - platija, solla
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - rödspätta
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
欧蝶, 拟庸蝶
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 歐蝶, 擬庸蝶
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) البلايس : نوع من السمك المفلطح
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - דג משה רבנו, סנדל
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Animal Encyclopedia. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Plaice". Read more |
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