Dab

Dab, common name for a small flatfish that is brown with darker blotches, and similar in shape to plaice and flounder. Both eyes are on the right side of the body, which also has toothed scales that give a rough texture. It grows to an average length of 25 cm (10 in). Its most characteristic feature is the lateral line that forms a semicircular curve over the pectoral fin. This distinguishes the dab from flounder and lemon sole, which have straight or slightly curved lateral lines.

Dabs are particularly abundant in the North Sea, but their range extends through the eastern Atlantic, White Sea, and the coasts of Iceland, Scandinavia, and Britain to the Bay of Biscay. Dabs live in sandy areas, usually at depths of 20 to 40 m (65 to 130 ft) where they feed on bottom-living animals, including small echinoderms, fish, worms, crustaceans, and molluscs. They have a characteristic method of feeding, in which the fish raises its head and ambushes worms or shellfish siphons as they emerge from the sand. This method is also used by lemon sole.

Dabs spawn in spring and early summer, depending on water temperature. Females produce up to 150,000 eggs that float near the surface and hatch after one to two weeks. When the young reach a length of 1.5 cm (y in) they settle in shallow water and metamorphose (see Metamorphosis) into the flatfish shape. They mature at between two and three years of age and can live for 12 years. Although dabs are small, they are a popular food fish, caught in trawls and seine nets, and are an important commercial species in Europe.

The name “dab” is also given to other species of small flatfish such as the sand dab.

Scientific classification: The dab is classified as Limanda limanda and belongs to the family Pleuronectidae, which also includes plaice, halibut, and flounder. The sand dab is classified as Citharichthys sordidus.