Pacific sanddab

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Pacific sanddab
Citharichthys sordidus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Carangiformes
Family: Paralichthyidae
Genus: Citharichthys
Species:
C. sordidus
Binomial name
Citharichthys sordidus
(Girard, 1854)
Synonyms

Psettichthys sordidusGirard, 1854

The Pacific sanddab (Citharichthys sordidus), also known as the soft flounder, mottle sanddab, or megrim, is a fish species in the order Pleuronectiformes, or flatfish. [1] It is by far the most common sanddab, and it shares its habitat with the longfin sanddab (C. xanthostigma) and the speckled sanddab (C. stigmaeus). The adult Pacific sanddab is bilaterally asymmetrical and ‘left-eyed’, meaning both eyes are located on the left side of its body. [2]

Contents

It is a medium-sized flatfish, with a light brown color mottled brown or black on its eyed side, occasionally with white or orange spots. [3] On its blind side, it is a solid white or light brown. It has large eyes and scales, and a deep rounded body. [1]

Distribution

The Pacific sanddab is endemic to the East Pacific Ocean, from the Bering Sea to Baja California. [1] They are most commonly found at depths of 50 to 150 m (160 to 490 ft), though the young inhabit shallower waters, occasionally moving into tide pools.

A map of Pacific sanddab distribution, shading indicating that it is found along the coast of Alaska down to Baja California. Pacific sanddab distribution.png
A map of Pacific sanddab distribution, shading indicating that it is found along the coast of Alaska down to Baja California.

Biology

The Pacific sanddab is an opportunistic predator, feeding on a variety of crustaceans, as well as smaller fish, squid, and octopuses. Their diet has been known to include anchovies, fish eggs, sea squirts, shrimp, crabs, and marine worms. [1]

Due to their abundance in coastal ecosystems, Pacific sanddabs have an important ecological role, providing food for various predators such as marine mammals, birds, and fish. They comprise a significant part of some breeding seabird diets, such as the Brandt’s cormorant and Pigeon guillemot, the latter of which may be considered a sanddab specialist. [4] Fish predators include salmon, skates, lingcod, Pacific sablefish and larger flatfish. [5]

Like all flatfish, the Pacific sanddab begins life as a bilaterally symmetrical fish larva [2] , a stage which lasts for up to 271 days. [6] As the larva matures, its right eye migrates over its head to the left side of its body. During this process, it shifts from a pelagic to a benthic lifestyle and begins to exhibit its characteristic side-swimming behavior. The fish also undergoes changes to its circulatory, nervous, and musculoskeletal system during this process. [2] [1]

Their unique eye placement is an adaptation which makes them suitable for this bottom-dwelling lifestyle, allowing them to use both eyes for detection while buried or laying along the sea floor. Additionally, by swimming close to the bottom, the Pacific sanddab and other flatfishes are able to move more efficiently and conserve energy using the ground effect. [7] They also take advantage of the substrate at the bottom by burying themselves to hide from predators, a behavior that is facilitated through their flattened body shape. [7]

The Pacific sanddab exhibits sexual dimorphism, with adult females growing to a larger size than males. [5]

The Pacific sanddab is oviparous and can reproduce multiple times in one spawning season. The spawning season takes place from July through September or October off the coast of Southern and Central California. [8] [9] Populations at higher latitudes show a shift in spawning season; in Puget Sound off the coast of Washington spawning occurs from February to May. [10]

Conservation

The Pacific sanddab is currently classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN. [11]

It is a popular game fish in northern California, found on menus in the Monterey Bay and San Francisco area, though more difficult to find in southern California restaurants and markets. Usually sold frozen, some regard it as a delicacy. It is also popular in restaurants and stores along the coasts of Oregon and Washington, where it can be found more readily.[ citation needed]

As Pacific sanddabs have a rapid growth rate coupled with early maturation, their vulnerability to overfishing is believed to be relatively low. [12] However, females appear to be maturing at significantly smaller sizes when comparing data from 2016 to data from 1951. [13] This decrease in size of mature females is most likely due to commercial fishing activity, [14] although there is evidence that warmer ocean temperatures have contributed to similar decreasing size trends in other groundfish such as haddock and North Sea plaice. [15] [16] [17] Larger females tend to produce a higher quantity and quality of offspring, [18] thus this increase in proportion of smaller mature females may have a negative impact on the species population.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatfish</span> Order of fishes

A flatfish is a member of the ray-finned demersal fish order Pleuronectiformes, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through or around the head during development. Some species face their left sides upward, some face their right sides upward, and others face either side upward.

<i>Citharichthys</i> Genus of fishes

Citharichthys is a genus of flatfish in the large-tooth flounder family, Paralichthyidae. They have both eyes on the left sides of their heads. They are native to the oceans around the Americas, with a single species, C. stampflii off the West African coast. Most are found in relatively shallow depths, but the genus also includes species found in deep water and species that enter fresh water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scophthalmidae</span> Family of fishes

The Scophthalmidae are a family of flatfish found in the North Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea. Fish of this family are known commonly as turbots, though this name can refer specifically to Scophthalmus maximus, as well. Some common names found in species of this family are turbots, windowpanes, and brills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European plaice</span> Species of fish

The European plaice, commonly referred to as simply plaice, is a species of marine flatfish in the genus Pleuronectes of the family Pleuronectidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California halibut</span> Species of fish

The California halibut or California flounder is a large-tooth flounder native to the waters of the Pacific Coast of North America from the Quillayute River in Washington to Magdalena Bay in Baja California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paralichthyidae</span> Family of fishes

Large-tooth flounders or sand flounders are a family, Paralichthyidae, of flounders. The family contains 14 genera with a total of about 110 species. They lie on the sea bed on their right side; both eyes are always on the left side of the head, while the Pleuronectidae usually have their eyes on the right side of the head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lingcod</span> Species of fishes

The lingcod or ling cod is neither a ling nor a cod, but is also known as known as the buffalo cod or cultus cod, or Buckethead is a fish of the greenling family Hexagrammidae. It is the only extant member of the genus Ophiodon. A slightly larger, extinct species, Ophiodon ozymandias, is known from fossils from the Late Miocene of Southern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific lamprey</span> Species of jawless fish

The Pacific lamprey is an anadromous parasitic lamprey from the Pacific Coast of North America and Asia in an area called the Pacific Rim. It is a member of the Petromyzontidae family. The Pacific lamprey is also known as the three-tooth lamprey and tridentate lamprey.

<i>Citharichthys stigmaeus</i> Species of fish

Citharichthys stigmaeus, the speckled sanddab, is a species of lefteye Blothid flounder in the genus Citharichthys. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, ranging from Alaska in the north to Baja California, Mexico in the south. It is usually found in benthic habitats, in both bays and coastal areas. It varies temporarily both seasonally and annually. It is often found highest in abundance during the spring and summer, but are found in much lower densities in the winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European flounder</span> Species of fish

The European flounder is a flatfish of European coastal waters from the White Sea in the north to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in the south. It has been introduced into the United States and Canada accidentally through transport in ballast water. It is caught and used for human consumption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samaridae</span> Family of fishes

Samaridae is a family of crested flounders, small flatfishes native to the Indo-Pacific. The family contains four genera with a total of 29 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific sand sole</span> Species of fish

The Pacific sand sole, also known as simply sand sole, is a species of flatfish found in the north-eastern Pacific waters where it lives on sandy bottoms. It is the only species in the genus Psettichthys, and ranges from the Bering Sea to northern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaice</span> Common name for a group of flatfish

Plaice is a common name for a group of flatfish that comprises four species: the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice.

Citharichthys gilberti, the bigmouth sanddab, is a species of flatfish in the large-tooth flounder family Paralichthyidae. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, in tropical waters ranging from the Gulf of California in the north to Peru in the south. It occurs in shallow waters off the coast, to a maximum depth of 36 m (118 ft).

Citharichthys xanthostigma, the longfin sanddab, is a species of flatfish in the large-tooth flounder family Paralichthyidae. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, in subtropical waters ranging from Monterey Bay, California in the north, to Costa Rica in the south. It is a demersal marine fish, and can be found on the soft bottoms of coastal waters at depths between 2 and 201 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedge sole</span> Species of fish

The wedge sole, is a flatfish of the family Soleidae. It is a bottom dwelling predatory fish inhabiting both sandy and muddy soils at depths between 10 and 450 m in the East Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. It achieves a maximum size of 30 cm (12 in).

<i>Citharichthys cornutus</i> Species of fish

Citharichthys cornutus, the horned whiff, is a species of flatfish in the large-tooth flounder family Paralichthyidae. This bathydemersal marine fish inhabits the continental shelves of the western Atlantic Ocean, in both tropical and subtropical waters. It ranges from New Jersey in the north to Uruguay in the south, though larvae samples have also been collected off the coast of Canada. It occurs at depths between 30 and 400 metres, though it is usually found in deeper waters.

C. sordidus may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian sole</span> Species of fish

The Egyptian sole is a species of flatfish in the true sole family, Soleidae. It lives on the sandy or muddy seabed of the Mediterranean Sea, and is now colonising the Red Sea. It often semi-immerses itself in the substrate. The upper side is greyish-brown while the underside is white. It grows to a maximum length of about 70 cm (28 in). This fish is used for human consumption and is prized as a food fish. It is caught mostly by trawling on the seabed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fisheries-induced evolution</span> Evolution of fishes driven by the fishery industry

Fisheries-induced evolution (FIE) is the microevolution of an exploited aquatic organism's population, brought on through the artificial selection for biological traits by fishing practices. Fishing, of any severity or effort, will impose an additional layer of mortality to the natural population equilibrium and will be selective to certain genetic traits within that organism's gene pool. This removal of selected traits fundamentally changes the population gene frequency, resulting in the artificially induced microevolution by the proxy of the survival of untargeted fish and their propagation of heritable biological characteristics. This artificial selection often counters natural life-history pattern for many species, such as causing early sexual maturation, diminished sizes for matured fish, and reduced fecundity in the form of smaller egg size, lower sperm counts and viability during reproductive events. These effects can have prolonged effects on the adaptability or fitness of the species to their environmental factors.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Barss, William H. The Pacific Sanddab. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, March 1976.
  2. 1 2 3 Moyle, Peter B. (2004). Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology (5th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.
  3. ↑ Froese, Rainer ; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Citharichthys sordidus". FishBase. September 2006 version.
  4. ↑ Ainley, David G.; Boekelheide, Robert J., eds. (1990). Seabirds of the Farallon Islands: ecology, dynamics, and structure of an upwelling-system community. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press. ISBN   978-0-8047-1530-0.
  5. 1 2 Lefebvre, Lyndsey. (2013). Status of the U.S. Pacific sanddab resource in 2013. Pacific Fishery Management Council, Portland, OR.
  6. ↑ Ralph, Larson, & Sakuma, K.M. (2008). Distribution of pelagic metamorphic-stage sanddabs Citharichthys sordidus and C . stigmaeus within areas of upwelling off central California.
  7. 1 2 Gibson, Robin N.; Stoner, Allan W.; Ryer, Clifford H. (2014-12-08), Gibson, Robin N.; Nash, Richard D.M.; Geffen, Audrey J.; van der Veer, Henk W. (eds.), "The behaviour of flatfishes", Flatfishes (1 ed.), Wiley, pp. 314–345, doi:10.1002/9781118501153.ch12, ISBN   978-1-118-50119-1 , retrieved 2024-11-14
  8. ↑ "Fatigue behaviour and life predictions of a particle-reinforced metal matrix composite at room and elevated temperaturesOgarevic, V.V. Diss. Abstr. Int. (May 1993) 53 (11) ISSN: 0419–4217". International Journal of Fatigue. 16 (5): 360. July 1994. doi:10.1016/0142-1123(94)90277-1. ISSN   0142-1123.
  9. ↑ Arora, H.L. 1951. An investigation of the California sand dab, Citharichthys sordidus (Girard). Calif. Fish and Game. 37:3-42.
  10. ↑ Ureña, H. M. 1989. Distribution of the eggs and larvae of some flatfishes (Pleuronectiformes) off Washington, Oregon and Northern California, 1980-1983. MS thesis Oregon State University. 207p.
  11. ↑ Munroe, T.A., Amaoka, K., Matsuura, K. & Carpenter, K.E. 2021. Citharichthys sordidus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T158620855A158623825. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T158620855A158623825.en. Accessed on 14 November 2024.
  12. ↑ Cope, Jason M.; DeVore, John; Dick, E. J.; Ames, Kelly; Budrick, John; Erickson, Daniel L.; Grebel, Joanna; Hanshew, Gretchen; Jones, Robert; Mattes, Lynn; Niles, Corey; Williams, Sarah (August 2011). "An Approach to Defining Stock Complexes for U.S. West Coast Groundfishes Using Vulnerabilities and Ecological Distributions". North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 31 (4): 589–604. doi:10.1080/02755947.2011.591264. ISSN   0275-5947.
  13. ↑ Lefebvre, Lyndsey S.; Payne, Amber M.; Field, John C. (2016-01-01). "Reproductive dynamics of Pacific sanddab, Citharichthys sordidus, off the central coast of California". Journal of Sea Research. Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium on Flatfish Ecology. 107: 100–111. doi:10.1016/j.seares.2015.07.003. ISSN   1385-1101.
  14. ↑ Jørgensen, Christian; Enberg, Katja; Dunlop, Erin S.; Arlinghaus, Robert; Boukal, David S.; Brander, Keith; Ernande, Bruno; Gårdmark, Anna G.; Johnston, Fiona; Matsumura, Shuichi; Pardoe, Heidi; Raab, Kristina; Silva, Alexandra; Vainikka, Anssi; Dieckmann, Ulf (2007-11-23). "Ecology: Managing Evolving Fish Stocks". Science. 318 (5854): 1247–1248. doi:10.1126/science.1148089. ISSN   0036-8075.
  15. ↑ Grift, R. E.; Rijnsdorp, A. D.; Barot, S.; Heino, M.; Dieckmann, U. (2003-08-07). "Fisheries-induced trends in reaction norms for maturation in North Sea plaice". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 257: 247–257. doi:10.3354/meps257247. ISSN   0171-8630.
  16. ↑ Mollet, Fm; Kraak, Sbm; Rijnsdorp, Ad (2007-12-06). "Fisheries-induced evolutionary changes in maturation reaction norms in North Sea sole Solea solea". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 351: 189–199. doi:10.3354/meps07138. ISSN   0171-8630.
  17. ↑ Tobin, Declan; Wright, Peter J. (July 2011). "Temperature effects on female maturation in a temperate marine fish". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 403 (1–2): 9–13. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2011.03.018.
  18. ↑ Mark A. Hixon, Darren W. Johnson, Susan M. Sogard, BOFFFFs: on the importance of conserving old-growth age structure in fishery populations, ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 71, Issue 8, October 2014, Pages 2171–2185, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst200
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