Starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus) is a saltwater, freshwater, brackish species recorded in the United States. It is found at depths of 0–375 m.
Scientific name: Platichthys stellatus · Water: Saltwater, Freshwater, Brackish
Size: up to 91 cm
The starry flounder is a demersal pleuronectid found inshore, often in very shallow water and in estuaries, and moving into deeper water at the coldest time of year, though it may occur in deep water throughout the year. It does not venture into water of high salinity, and young and adults move up rivers as much as 120 km; it is benthic. It feeds on crustaceans, worms, small mollusks, brittle stars and small fishes, and it is an important game fish. It is recorded from the surface down to 375 m, and it also enters fresh and brackish water. Its range is the northern Pacific, from the Yellow Sea along the coasts of the Korean peninsula, the Russian Far East and the Japanese archipelago to the Arctic, including the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, and south through the Bering Sea to California. Maximum length is about 91 cm total length, commonly about 57.5 cm, and it can live 42 years. It is a minor commercial species and a gamefish, with a medium price category. Fishing vulnerability is moderate to high at 51 of 100 and resilience very low, and climate vulnerability is high at 61 of 100. IUCN lists it as least concern.
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