![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Citharichthys_sordidus.jpg/640px-Citharichthys_sordidus.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Paralichthyidae
Family of fishes / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Large-tooth flounders or sand flounders are a family, Paralichthyidae, of flounders.[1][2] The family contains 14 genera with a total of about 110 species. They lie on the sea bed on their right side; both eyes are always on the left side of the head, while the Pleuronectidae usually (but not always) have their eyes on the right side of the head.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Citharichthys_macrops.jpg/640px-Citharichthys_macrops.jpg)
Large-tooth flounders | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Pacific sanddab, Citharichthys sordidus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Pleuronectiformes |
Suborder: | Pleuronectoidei |
Family: | Paralichthyidae Chabanaud, 1937 |
Type genus | |
Paralichthys Girard, 1858 | |
Genera[1] | |
Ancylopsetta |
They are found in temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.[3]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Syacium_papillosum.jpg/640px-Syacium_papillosum.jpg)
Several species are important commercial and game fishes, notably the California halibut, Paralichthys californicus and the Pacific sanddab, Citharichthys sordidus.
Phylogenetic analyses have long indicated the non-monophyly of this family e.g.,[4] and two lineages have been consistently apparent. Termed groups, the two groups were named after genera: a Cyclopsetta group and a Pseudorhombus group (see summary in [5]). A formal description of Cyclopsettidae in 2019 created this family consisting of four genera: Cyclopsetta, Etropus, Citharichthys, and Syacium corresponding to the previously recognized Cyclopsetta group.[5] Molecular phylogenetic evidence indicates that Paralichthyidae in this sense is sister to Pleuronectidae and Cyclopsettidae is sister to Bothidae e.g.[6]