| Large-tooth flounders Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pacific sanddab, Citharichthys sordidus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Carangiformes |
| Suborder: | Pleuronectoidei |
| Family: | Paralichthyidae Regan, 1910 |
| Type genus | |
| Paralichthys Girard, 1858 | |
| Genera [1] | |
Ancylopsetta | |
Large-tooth flounders or sand flounders are a family, Paralichthyidae, of flounders. [1] [2] 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 (but not always) have their eyes on the right side of the head. [3]
They are found in temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. [4]
Several species are important commercial and game fishes, notably the California halibut, Paralichthys californicus and the Pacific sanddab, Citharichthys sordidus.
Phylogenetic analyses have long indicated the non-monophyly of this family e.g., [5] and two lineages have been consistently apparent. Termed groups, the two groups were named after genera: a Cyclopsetta group and a Pseudorhombus group (see summary in [6] ). A formal description of Cyclopsettidae in 2019 created this family consisting of four genera: Cyclopsetta, Etropus, Citharichthys, and Syacium corresponding to the previously recognized Cyclopsetta group. [6] Molecular phylogenetic evidence indicates that Paralichthyidae in this sense is sister to Pleuronectidae and Cyclopsettidae is sister to Bothidae e.g. [7]
The earliest known fossil remains of the Paralichthyidae are Late Eocene-aged fossil otoliths assigned to Citharichthys altissimus from Louisiana, USA. [8] One extinct fossil genus is known in Evesthes from the Late Miocene of California, USA. [9]
