Pleuronectidae and they sink to the bottom. They are found on the bottoms of oceans around the world, with some species, such as the Atlantic halibut, "Hippoglossus hippoglossus", being found down to . The smaller species eat sea-floor invertebrates such as polychaetes and crustaceans, but the larger righteye flounders, such as "H. hippoglossus", which grows up to in length, feed on other fishes and cephalopods, as well. They include many important commercially fished species, including not only the various fish called flounders, but also the European plaice, the halibuts, the lemon sole, the common dab, the Pacific Dover sole, and the
Flying fish striking their prey. The oldest known fossil of a flying or gliding fish, "Potanichthys xingyiensis", dates back to the Middle Triassic, 235–242 million years ago. However, this fossil is not related to modern flying fish, which evolved independently about 66 million years ago. The term Exocoetidae is both the scientific name and the general name in Latin for a flying fish. The suffix "-idae", common for indicating a family, follows the root of the Latin word "", a transliteration of the Ancient Greek name . This means literally "sleeping outside", from "outside" and "bed", "resting place", verb root κει- "to