A marine fish belonging to the order Pleuronectiformes, in which the body is highly compressed and asymmetrical, with both eyes on either the right or left side. Newly hatched larvae are shaped like ordinary fish but when they grow to about 2 cm long they start to assume the flatfish shape and one eye moves around the body. There are more than 700 species in 11 families. Many are able to camouflage themselves to blend with the substrate on which they lie. They occur in all oceans and include many important food fish, such as plaice, sole, turbot, halibut, flounder, and dab.