Plaice are among the flatfish and are generally regarded as the most popular members of this fish family. They prefer to inhabit the seabed and their love of salty, cool waters mean that they are seldom found near river mouths. They usually live in a depth of 10 to 200 metres, this can be up to 400 metres in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Plaice are masters of disguise. They assume the colour of the ground and dig into the sand when danger lurks. Particularly fascinating are the eyes, of which one can look forwards and the other backwards at the same.
Plaice have an average length of about 25 to 40 centimetres and weigh up to seven kilograms. The oldest ever caught plaice was approximately 50 years old.
Females can lay up to half a million eggs. When the young have reached a certain size, the left eye moves over the upper half of the body to the right and the fish begins to swim, with the left side of its body toward the floor, flat over the seabed. The eye on the upper body side varies between different shades of brown with pale to dark red spots depending on the ground on which the fish settles. The underside, also known as the blind side, is white. Optically, the plaice is similar to the flounder, however, it differs in the fact that its small scales are very smooth.
Adult plaice feed on shrimp, crabs and small shellfish. Plaice swim an impressive 30 kilometres a day from their original spawning areas in the direction of the intertidal zones of the beach.
