Fish
Largetooth Flounder
Pseudorhombus arsius
A left-eyed flatfish that lies camouflaged on sandy bottoms in KZN bays and estuaries.
Also known as flounder largetooth, large-tooth flounder
- Typical size
- Commonly 25-40 cm
- Habitat
- Sand and mud in bays and estuaries
- Depth
- Shallow inshore to about 50 m
The largetooth flounder is a flat, oval-bodied fish with both eyes on its left side and a mottled sandy-brown upper surface bearing a few dark ocellated blotches, allowing it to vanish against the seabed. Its underside is pale. It is a warm-water species found on sand and mud in KwaZulu-Natal bays, estuaries and adjacent inshore reefs.
As an ambush predator it buries all but its eyes and lunges at passing small fish and prawns, its notably large teeth giving it its name. Divers usually spot it only when it moves. It is harmless and taken incidentally by bait anglers over sand.