Glyptocephalus cynoglossus
Witch Flounder
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Pleuronectidae (Righteye Flounders)
Glyptocephalus
Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (Witch Flounder)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep. Pectoral fin of eyed side shorter than head. Distal part of pectoral fin blackish (Ref. 232). Large mucus pores on the blind side of the head. Uniform coloration, rough scales. Body elongated with complete straight lateral line (Ref. 35388). Striking features: flatfish.
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Gulf of St. Lawrence and Grand Banks in Canada to North Carolina in USA; Eastern Atlantic: Northern Spain to northern Norway (Ref. 7251).
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 18-1570 m.
Biology
Inhabits soft mud bottoms in fairly deep water (Ref. 9988). Benthic (Ref. 58426). Feeds on crustaceans, polychaetes, brittle stars (Ref. 9988) and fishes (Ref. 58426). Marketed fresh or frozen; eaten steamed, fried, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).
Max length: 60.0 cm SL; max weight: 2500 g; max age: 25 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Eggs and larvae are pelagic.
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (VU), assessed 2021-02-12. Resilience: Medium (K=0.15-0.2; tmax=25).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial.
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Whitehead, P.J.P., M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) (1986) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vols. I-III:1473 p.
Nielsen, J.G. (1986) Pleuronectidae. p. 1299-1307. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 3.
Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott (1988) Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219:731 p.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Vinnikov, K.A., R.C. Thomson and T.A. Munroe (2018) Revised classification of the righteye flounders (Teleostei: Pleuronectidae) based on multilocus phylogeny with complete taxon sampling. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 125:147-162. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.014
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