A right-eye flatfish (family Pleuronectidae) that lives on the sandy seafloor, lying half-buried, and that has a remarkable ability to change colour to match its background. There are four species. The European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), found in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, is the most important commercially. The Alaska plaice (P. quadrituberculatus) occurs in the eastern North Pacific, the American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) occurs in the western North Atlantic, and the scale-eye plaice (Acanthopsetta nadeshnyi) occurs in the western North Pacific.