Freaky Flounder

No, you're not seeing double. This is a rare instance of a flounder with full pigment on both the "eye" side and the "blind" side, known as "complete ambicoloration." Typically, larval flounder start out swimming upright in the water column with an eye on each side, and then undergo metamorphosis in the first few weeks of their life. One eye migrates to join the other on one side of their head, their body flattens out as they start swimming parallel to the bottom, and pigment develops on the “eye” side, while the “blind” side that rests on the bottom remains white. These adaptations are thought to help the flounder have a wider field of view as they burrow in the sand to hide from predators and ambush their prey. Pigment mutations in flounder are common in aquaculture, but extremely rare in the wild.

A local fisherman, Jeremy Goodrich, caught this Southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) near Oak Hill in the Mosquito Lagoon over the Veteran's Day weekend, and gave it to Rick Riley, an FWC scientist, at the Indian River Lagoon Field Lab in Melbourne. Watch a short video here!