Bothus pantherinus
Leopard Flounder | Panther Flounder
Similar Species
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Eyes close set (about one eye diameter apart), dark-edged blue and gold spots cover body, large peacock spot on midline two-thirds distance along back; males with long pectoral fin filaments extending to tail base. Turn pale on light-coloured backgrounds, such as the illustrated juvenile that, unusually, was sitting on live coral. Differs from B. mancus (Flowery Flounder) in having smaller golden spots, eye tentacles, and smaller maximum size.
Information
Max Size: 39 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22.8-32.1°C
Depth: 3-150m
Habitat Generalization Index: N/A
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Rare (1.0% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields