Southern Flounder
Paralichthys lethostigma
AKA: Flounder, flatfish, doormat
Description: A flat, oval-shaped fish found throughout North Carolina’s estuaries and throughout the shallows of the Gulf of Mexico. Southern flounder are brown on their left side with numerous dark and light spots and blotches, but they are not ringed or ocellated as are other flounder species. The right side of a southern flounder is white.
Size: Typical Southern flounder catches range from 15 to 18 inches, but the fish can grow to as large as 33 inches.
Sometimes confused with: summer flounder
Habitat: Southern flounder are found in the oceans and estuarine waters along the Atlantic seaboard from Virginia to southeast Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico.
