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Glite Dictionary
Pleuronectes platessa

Pleuronectes platessa

9.9
A large flat sea fish with orange spots found in European waters and eaten as food
  • noun
  • Specialized
: platija
  • The North Sea is home to a large population of Pleuronectes platessa, making it important for local fisheries.

Examples

  • Overfishing has caused a decline in Pleuronectes platessa stocks in recent decades.

  • Many chefs consider Pleuronectes platessa one of the finest fish for traditional European seafood recipes.

  • Look at this Pleuronectes platessa!

  • The Pleuronectes platessa is delicious.

  • Many chefs consider Pleuronectes platessa one of the finest fish for traditional European seafood recipes.

  • Overfishing has caused a decline in Pleuronectes platessa stocks in recent decades.

  • The North Sea is home to a large population of Pleuronectes platessa, making it important for local fisheries.

Synonyms

plaice
vsPleuronectes platessa
1 8.6

A flat sea fish with orange spots and a diamond-shaped body often eaten as food

is the formal scientific name used for this food fish

Surface Forms

Pleuronectes platessa singular
Pleuronectes platessas plural

Morphology

Pleuronectes + platessa

This is a Latin scientific name (binomial) rather than a compositional English phrase, so its meaning as a particular species of flatfish is not derivable from the constituent forms. The parts ('Pleuronectes' and 'platessa') are technical/unknown to a B1 learner (one lacks a dictionary gloss), so even knowing them would not allow the learner to infer 'European plaice' or 'large flatfish'.

Etymology

Pleuronectes platessa comes from old words that describe its shape: Pleuronectes may mean 'side' and platessa 'flat', because this fish lies flat on one side with both eyes on the top. That's why the name fits the flat, food fish we know today.