PLAICE (Pleuronectes platessa)
Plaice is a medium sized flatfish. It has a smooth skin as opposed to, for example, dab and long rough dab. It is easily recognized by the red or orange spots on the otherwise dark back, the underside is white. The maximum recorded size in Icelandic waters is 85 cm, but the usual size in catches is from 30 to 50 cm. Plaice is common all around Iceland from the seashore to 200 m depth, on sandy or muddy bottoms. It can also tolerate fresh waters for some time. In European waters it is found from the White Sea and the Barents Sea in the north down to the western part of the Mediterranean Sea in the south. It is not found in North American waters. Previously, flatfishes were considered rather sedentary. Tagging studies on the plaice have, however, shown that this does not hold entirely true. The plaice undertakes large scale feeding and spawning migrations in the waters around Iceland, fishes tagged on one side of the country have even found at the other side.
Spawning mostly takes place in the warmer waters south and west of Iceland at 50 to 100 m depth. Eggs and larvae have also been found in colder northern waters, so at least some limited spawning also occurs there. In the southern waters, the peak spawning season is in March and April but in May and June in northern waters. The juveniles settle onto shallow intertidal beaches and stay there for the first year of their life before migrating to deeper waters. Standard delivery size: 500g+ gutted fish Other products upon request.
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