Flatfish (Pleuronectiformes)

This group gathers Fish subcategory members belonging to the order Pleuronectiformes, the flatfish, unmistakable for an asymmetric body plan found nowhere else among vertebrates: a flatfish hatches with one eye on each side of its head like an ordinary fish, then undergoes a dramatic metamorphosis in which one eye migrates across the skull to sit beside the other, so the adult fish can lie flat on the seabed with both eyes facing upward. It spans the halibut, among the largest of all flatfish, the plaice and the dab, and the sole, prized as a food fish across Europe. Nearly every member is a bottom-dwelling ambush predator or scavenger, often further camouflaged by a color-changing skin that matches the surrounding sand or gravel.