Earlier this evening I was on the beach with a number of people and dogs, the human contingent comprising (apart from myself) Messrs M. P.. W. P. and O. P. of Cromer, together with Miss G. P. of Cromer, and Miss M. P. of Cromer. I should say at this point to avoid confusion, and, notwithstanding inasmuch as which, that Miss M. P. of Cromer is entirely unrelated to Messrs M. P.. W. P. or O. P. of Cromer, nor is she related to Miss G. P. of Cromer, though news has reached mes oreilles that she is the sister of another, quite different Miss M. P. of Cromer, who wasn’t there, even though both Misses M. P. of Cromer are the daughters of Mr V. P. and Mrs K. P. of Cromer, and I should make it clear that this particular Mrs K. P. of Cromer is different from, and unrelated to, the Mrs K. P. of Cromer who is married to Mr M. P. of Cromer and the mother of Messrs W. P. and O. P. of Cromer, and Miss G. P. of Cromer, as well as Mr S. P. of Cromer, who wasn’t there either.
But I digress.
It was heruntofore the aforesaid Miss M. P. of Cromer who came upon this fish.
the identity of which eluded us. It was only when we turned it over
that we could place it.
I suppose if you turned it over, it was dead and perhaps not fresh, which is a shame, because plaice makes for a nice meal. Though it’s not standard coloration – I could easily be wrong. Flounder? Dab?
Though I grew up by the ocean, I only learned the names of many of its edible denizens at the fishmongers’ stalls in Paris, where fish are sold whole and filleted to order, and so now have to translate the names back into my mother tongue.
I did wonder – plaice spots are usually brighter, and orange. Perhaps it had gone off a bit.
A fish with the chicken pox?
Issss it a European Flounder, precioussss???
‘Flundra’ would be my choice… hmm, might need to google the name in English
After that, some kind of Platichthys flesus… or ‘European flounder’ maybe because it can change colour based on the surroundings? It’s called the “camoflage* fish” after all
*can’t spell, obviously
Now, this is all very interesting. I didn’t know that the flounder (chall’s flendra – Platyichthys flessus) was so closely related to plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). I was a bit naughty in not giving a scale. This Mystery Fish is larger than the 20cm or so typical for flounders (so sez my field guide). Plaice are larger than this. Plaice also have a more rounded tail fin, unlike the ‘square-cut’ tail fin of the flounder. The distinctive spots are more place-ish, too. Strangely, my field guide completely omits another very likely contender, the common dab (Limanda limanda) but that doesn’t have those distinctive orangey-red blobs either, and is also smaller than yer average plaice.
@Steve – if it had chicken pox, it wouldn’t be a fish, but a chicken. Molecular biologists, eh? What can you do?
Duh. I only JUST now saw your play(ce) on words at the end. Really.
I would be interested if that halo effect on the spots is what one sees after letting a dead plaice sit around in salt water for a while. Want to procure one at the fishmonger and let us know?
For me, while I considered dab (I had to look it up as I know it as “limande”) and flounder (my first reflex as a New England girl), the spots put it as plaice, and the shape of the tailfin, too.
Well. Beachcombing on the Mediterranean coast has been much more boring than in Cromer, so far.
I agree – the spots seem a bit odd. I think you are probably right. This plaice seems to have been lying around a bit post-mortem.
The fish is 49 spots with the eyes, like your age, that’s what you want to express Henry, ¿yesterday was your birthday?
Of course. My secret is out.
well, the plaice seems like a good choice. I really like stove top fried in butter
I read a bit more about those flat fishes last night (thanks Henry!) and am a little mind boggled that not only are they all “right sided upwards” (i wonder if any leftish ones have been found? as a left handed person I find it interesting with the L and D things). And one of their eyes moves from the bottom side to the top side when they are about 1 cm long…. I get fascinated easily I guess but isn’t that kind of amazing?!
It is indeed amazing. Your favourite weekly professional science magazine beginning with N published a paper on the evolution of flatfishes, documenting adult forms from the Eocene epoch with incomplete migration of the eyes.
Cromacrox is very interesting: very coincidence the number of Nature is 454 (“The evolutionary origin of flatfish asymmetry”) your current age, 4 (four) and (5+4=9) that is to say 49 !.
Ah! Numerology!
Thanks for the link to the fave science magazine
Um… er… based on some knowledge wot I recently garnered from a blog I like to read, I’m guessing it’s a “plaice”.
Cromer is certainly a bonanza of real live dead fish these days. Is it always like this?
No, that’s just it. There seem to be quite a lot of dead fish around at the moment. It could simply be a blip. Alternatively, it could be because I’m on the beach more often – what with the weather being so nice and all – and, once sensitized, I start seeing them when I didn’t before. Or there could be a real cause, such as an increase in offshore fishing. Because of EU quotas, fishermen simply throw the fish they’re not allowed to catch over the side. If this is true, it’s pretty typical of EU wastefulness, not to mention bad news for the fish.
One of my Dad’s favourite jokes goes as follows:
Dad: “which fish has a name that starts with K, ends with K, and is 10 letters long?”
Victim: “Um. [thinks]. No idea”.
Dad: “Kilmarnock”.
Victim: “That’s not a fish!”
Dad: “Yes it is, it’s a plaice in Scotland”.
Ba-boom tish. She’s here all week folks.
You can post your next fishy question on FishBook.
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