Flatfish

Flatfish; Temporal range:
	Illustration of different flatfish by Brehm (1865), including turbot, sole, and plaice
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Carangiformes
Suborder:	Pleuronectoidei; Cuvier, 1817
Type species
	Pleuronectes platessa; Linnaeus, 1758
Families
	Polynemidae (threadfins) Psettodidae (spiny turbots) Superfamily Citharoidea Citharidae (largescale flounders) Superfamily Pleuronectoidea Scophthalmidae (turbots) Paralichthyidae (large-tooth flounders) Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders) Bothidae (lefteye flounders) Superfamily Soleoidea Paralichthodidae (measles flounders) Poecilopsettidae (bigeye flounders) Rhombosoleidae (rhombosoleids) Achiropsettidae (southern flounders) Samaridae (crested flounders) Achiridae (American soles) Soleidae (true soles) Cynoglossidae (tonguefishes)
Synonyms
	Heterosamata Jordan & Evermann, 1896; Pleuronectiformes Regan, 1910; Soleiformes Regan, 1910; Polynemoidei Regan, 1909; Pleuronectoideo Girard et al, 2020;

A flatfish is a member of the ray-finned demersal fish suborder Pleuronectoidei, also called the Heterosomata. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through or around the head during development. Some species face their left sides upward, some face their right sides upward, and others face either side upward. The most primitive members of the group, the threadfins, do not resemble the flatfish but are their closest relatives.

Many important food fish are in this order, including the flounders, soles, turbot, plaice, and halibut. Some flatfish can camouflage themselves on the ocean floor.