Common Dab

A flatfish of the northeastern Atlantic, ranging from the Bay of Biscay to Iceland and the White Sea and including the North Sea and western Baltic. Both its eyes sit on the right side of its body, and its upper surface is pale brown with scattered darker blotches and speckles, lacking the orange spots of the related plaice; a distinctive semi-circular curve marks its lateral line above the pectoral fin. It reaches up to 40 centimeters, though most individuals are closer to 20, and lives on sandy bottoms of shallow coastal waters to about 100 meters deep. It feeds on the seafloor, taking marine worms, molluscs, sand eels, amphipods, crustaceans, echinoderms and small fish.