Bothus mancus appears to be the most common flounder at Kwajalein and can be seen quite readily on lagoon, pinnacle and seaward reefs around the atoll. It can be distinguished most readily from the very similar Bothus pantherinus by the position of its eyes. In Bothus mancus, the lower eye is slightly behind the upper eye. That is, if you stood the fish up with mouth facing up and tail down, you could draw a horizontal line that touches the back of the upper eye and it would not touch the lower one. In Bothus pantherinus, that horizontal line would intersect about the middle of the lower eye. There are also slight differences in pattern between the two.
Created 3 August 2017