Flatfish entire order was John Roxborough Norman's "Monograph of the Flatfishes" published in 1934. New species are described with some regularity and undescribed species likely remain. Hybrids are well known in flatfishes. The Pleuronectidae, of marine fishes, have the largest number of reported hybrids. Two of the most famous intergeneric hybrids are between the European plaice ("Pleuronectes platessa") and European flounder ("Platichthys flesus") in the Baltic Sea, and between the English sole ("Parophrys vetulus") and starry flounder ("Platichthys stellatus") in Puget Sound. The offspring of the latter species pair is popularly known as the hybrid sole and was initially believed to
Flatfish be a valid species in its own right. Flatfishes are found in oceans worldwide, ranging from the Arctic, through the tropics, to Antarctica. Most species are found in depths between 0 and , but a few have been recorded from depths in excess of . None have been confirmed from the abyssal or hadal zones. An observation of a flatfish from the Bathyscaphe Trieste at the bottom of the Mariana Trench at a depth of almost has been questioned by fish experts, and recent authorities do not recognize it as valid. Among the deepwater species, "Symphurus thermophilus" lives in congregating