Winter Flounder Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Right-eyed flatfish with a thick, oval body and noticeably thick caudal peduncle
• Small mouth compared with other flounders, with a slightly protruding lower jaw
• Reddish-brown to dark olive or nearly black upper side, varying with the substrate; lacks bold spots
• Rough, sandpapery scales that give a gritty texture to the skin
• Rounded tail fin and a gently curved lateral line
• Typically 25-40 cm, with a stocky, robust build

Common look-alikes

• Summer flounder – left-eyed (opposite side), with a much larger mouth and faint eyespots.
• Yellowtail flounder – slimmer body with a yellowish tail and fin edges, unlike winter flounder's plain reddish-brown tail.
• Windowpane flounder – very thin, almost translucent body, quite different from winter flounder's thick build.

Where you'll see one

Winter flounder inhabit inshore bays, estuaries, and continental shelf waters of the Northwest Atlantic from Labrador south to Georgia. They typically move into shallow, cooler inshore waters in winter and spring, then shift to deeper offshore water during the warmer summer months.