European flounder the males when they measure and the females when they measure . The European flounder sometimes hybridises with European plaice ("Pleuronectes platessa") and, particularly in the western Baltic Sea, the hybrid is common. The European flounder is used for human consumption but is not so highly esteemed as the European plaice or common sole ("Solea solea"). The most important fisheries are in the Baltic Sea and the waters around the Netherlands and Denmark. In 2010, the total world catch was about nineteen thousand tonnes, mostly caught by bottom trawling. The fish is marketed fresh and frozen and can be fried,
Demersal fish is pointed downwards; this is beneficial as their food is often below them in the substrate. Those bottom feeders with upward-pointing mouths, such as stargazers, tend to seize swimming prey. Benthic fish, sometimes called groundfish, are denser than water, so they can rest on the sea floor. They either lie-and-wait as ambush predators, maybe covering themselves with sand or otherwise camouflaging themselves, or move actively over the bottom in search for food. Benthic fish which can bury themselves include dragonets, flatfish and stingrays. Flatfish are an order of ray-finned benthic fishes which lie flat on the ocean floor. Examples are