The southern flounders are a small family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of flounder

Flounder

The flounder is an ocean-dwelling flatfish species that is found in coastal lagoons and estuaries of the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.-Taxonomy:There are a number of geographical and taxonomical species to which flounder belong.*Western Atlantic...

s found in Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 and sub-Antarctic waters. There are six species of southern flounders in four genera.

The bodies of southern flounders are greatly compressed, with both eye

Eye

Eyes are organs that detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptors in conscious vision connect light to movement...

s on the left side of the head. The caudal fin is separate, and the pectoral fins are rudimentary or entirely absent; none of the fins have spines. The lateral line

Lateral line

The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...

 is straight and well-developed. The family varies considerably in size, from the 6.3 cm of Achiropsetta slavae to the 60 cm length of the armless flounder

Armless flounder

The armless flounder, Neoachiropsetta milfordi, is a southern flounder, the only species in the genus Neoachiropsetta. It is found in Antarctic and subantarctic waters, in depths of between 100 and 1,000 m, and grows to between 30 and 60 cm in length.-References:* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox,...

 Neoachiropsetta milfordi.

Most of the species have only recently been discovered, and little is known of their habits.

Species

• Genus Achiropsetta
  • Achiropsetta slavae
  • Finless flounder
    Finless flounder
    The finless flounder is a species of flatfish with a southern circumpolar distribution. It lives in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean off Patagonia, the Falkland Islands and the Burdwood Bank, and can also be found off the Ob Bank, Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Islands, and the Campbell Plateau. It is...
    
    , Achiropsetta tricholepis
• Genus Mancopsetta
  • Antarctic armless flounder
    Antarctic armless flounder
    The Antarctic armless flounder can be found on subantarctic shelves, around Antarctic islands, and banks off East Antarctica. This species can grow to a length of 50 centimeters. It lives in depths of 100 to 600 meters.-References:*...
    
    , Mancopsetta maculata antarctica
  • Mancopsetta maculata maculata
• Genus Neoachiropsetta
  • Armless flounder
    Armless flounder
    The armless flounder, Neoachiropsetta milfordi, is a southern flounder, the only species in the genus Neoachiropsetta. It is found in Antarctic and subantarctic waters, in depths of between 100 and 1,000 m, and grows to between 30 and 60 cm in length.-References:* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox,...
    
    , Neoachiropsetta milfordi (Penrith, 1965).
• Genus Pseudomancopsetta
  • Pseudomancopsetta andriashevi

See also

• Paralichthys lethostigma
  Paralichthys lethostigma
  Paralichthys lethostigma is a popular sports fish and is the largest and most commercially valuable flounder in the western north Atlantic ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Its range is North Carolina to the Yucatan peninsula...
  
  , another species of a different order also sometimes called a "Southern flounder"