The ocellated flounder (Ancylopsetta ommata), is a small but striking member of the large‑tooth (or sand) flounder family. This distinctly noticeable flatfish inhabits coastal waters along the Atlantic and Gulf regions including Georgia’s estuaries. As with many flatfish, ocellated flounder inhabit soft-sediment bottoms and are able to seamlessly blend into their surrounding environments by changing their color when needed.  Despite being a master of camouflage, the ocellated flounder is easily recognized by their four distinctive eye spots, or ocelli, which are found on their back or posterior sides. Like other flatfish, the ocellated flounder also undergoes a dramatic developmental shift as it grows; one eye migrates across its head, and the fish settles on its side as it matures. The ocellated flounder is known as a left-eye flounder meaning both eyes end up on the left side of its body.

Within Georgia estuaries, the ocellated flounder plays a subtle but important ecological role. A long‑standing NOAA estuarine food‑habits study in coastal Georgia found that ocellated flounder feed heavily on mysid shrimp throughout the year. As individuals grow larger, they begin incorporating bigger prey items, shifting from nearly exclusive mysid consumption to larger organisms as their mouth size increases. This feeding strategy aligns well with Georgia’s rich estuarine food webs, where mysid shrimp and other small crustaceans thrive in the productive marsh–river interface.

Unlike southern and summer flounders that can grow up to 3 feet in length, the ocellated flounder only reaches 10-12 inches. Due to their smaller size, they are not commonly caught by recreational anglers but occasionally end up as bycatch in commercial shrimp trawls since they inhabit similar bottom habitats as shrimp. Regardless, their presence in Georgias estuaries reflect the incredible fish diversity found in our local coastal waters.