Windowpane

Windowpane

Scophthalmus aquosus

Size:
to 18"
usually much smaller

Habitat:
Soft sandy bottoms,
in depths from water's edge to 150 ft.

Description:
This is a left-eyed flounder. Identifying characteristics are the nearly circular body shape and the free rays of the dorsal fin, which form a frill near the eye. The Windowpane is common but very thin and too small to eat. It is the sole new-world representative of the turbot family, which is commercially important in Europe.

Windowpane
Herb Segars Photography

Lionfish

Pterois volitans

Size: to 17", usually smaller

Habitat: turning up all along the East Coast

Notes: venomous spines

This Indo-Pacific scorpionfish has been sighted in the wild in Florida and the Caribbean since the 1990s. In 2000 it began appearing off North Carolina. Two juveniles were found off Long Island in 2002, and in 2003 a two-inch yearling was collected in the Shark River. Of course, this popular pet is sighted daily in public and private aquariums all over the world.

Printed from njscuba.net