Smooth Flounder

Liopsetta putnami

Pleuronectidae · saltwater and brackish water fish

1 minute read · Species guide

Smooth Flounder field guide illustration

About Smooth Flounder

The American smooth flounder (Pleuronectes putnami) is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish that inhabits shallow inshore salt and brackish waters at depths of up to 27 metres (89 ft). Its native habitat is the temperate waters of the northwestern Atlantic, from Ungava Bay in Quebec, Canada to Rhode Island, United States. It can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in length.

Description

The American smooth flounder is a right-eyed flatfish, resembling the winter flounder in shape and appearance. Its upper side, including the fins, ranges in colour from dark grey to brown or almost black, and may be either uniform or mottled with darker patches of the same colour; its underside is white. Females are smooth on both sides of the body, whilst males are rough on the upper side.

Range and habitat

The American smooth flounder inhabits the shallow salt and brackish arctic - boreal waters of the northwestern Atlantic, living inshore on the soft mud bottoms of estuaries, river mouths and sheltered bays. Its range stretches along the Canada–US coast from Quebec through Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts to Rhode Island.

Diet

The diet of the American smooth flounder consists mainly of zoobenthos invertebrates such as crustaceans, molluscs and marine worms.

Article text: Wikipedia contributors, American smooth flounder (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Range

Where it lives

Share of 38 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 4 states.
0%
73.7%
Share of 38 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 4 states.

Habitat

Water and movement

Water
WoRMS records this species in brackish water and the sea.

Classification

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Superclass
Actinopterygii
Class
Teleostei
Order
Pleuronectiformes
Genus
Liopsetta
Species
Liopsetta putnami
ITIS TSN
172915
WoRMS AphiaID
158882
GBIF key
5213985
Outside the US
ITIS also files it in Canada.

Common questions about Smooth Flounder

What is the scientific name of Smooth Flounder?
The scientific name is Liopsetta putnami, in the family Pleuronectidae. Classification follows ITIS.
Does Smooth Flounder live in fresh water or salt water?
WoRMS records this species in brackish water and the sea.
Where has Smooth Flounder been recorded in the United States?
GBIF has observations in 4 states, with the most records in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire. The map shows observation records, which do not establish the complete natural range.

Closest relatives

Other Liopsetta species

Same family

More Pleuronectidae