flounder

[English] plural flounders

The summer flounder is a side-swimming flatfish, the common flounder has dark skin above and firm white flesh. They are fished in the Atlantic Ocean off the eastern seaboard of North America. In New England the name blackback flounder is given to these fish when they are under 1.35 kg (3 lbs). If they are heavier than that they are called lemon sole, which is completely different from what is called lemon sole in the United Kingdom (cf). Names vary in different parts of the United States, but the most common varieties are black back (winter) flounder, summer flounder (fluke), dab (yellowtail), grey sole and lemon sole, most of which names again differ in the UK. In the US Brits can be confused as fish labelled sole (a very superior fish in the UK) is usually flounder. However, fish labelled as flounder in the US is usually rather better than flounder in the UK!

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