Winter Flounder

(Pseudopleuronectes americanus)

Every so often our seventh grade classes will capture a young Winter Flounder.  These fish tend to be lighter in color than the Hogchoker and have a pointier snout.  The fish captured in the Patuxent River at King’s Landing are the offspring of the adult flounders that move into the Bay during the winter months to feed and spawn in the relatively protected environment of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

As with most of the flatfish, the newly hatched Winter Flounder has an eye on each side of the head, typical of most fish species.  As the fish begins to grow, the eye migrates across the head until it is adjacent to the other eye.  At this point the fish will swim “sideways” and will live on the bottom of the Bay or river.  Flounder will feed on small crustaceans, smaller fish, worms and other invertebrates.