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Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

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FLOUNDER or FLATFISH

Flounder or flatfish are represented in New Zealand by several species of Rhombosolea and these are much in demand on account of their excellent flavour and delicate texture. The species commonly marketed are the “yellow belly”, leporina, from mud flats and estuaries, and the “green back”, tapirina, which is known up to 20 in. in length and frequents both shallow and deep waters either in harbours or off the open coast. The Maori name for a flounder is patiki. Thirteen species of flatfishes are known from New Zealand waters, and these include such species as soles, turbots, and megrims. The soles are distinguished by the fins extending almost all the way around the body, the turbot by its large size and thick body, and the megrim by its extreme thinness, which renders it unsuitable as a marketable fish. The megrim is especially abundant in the big lagoon at Chatham Island.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

Co-creator

Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.