Platichthys solemdali sp. nov. (Actinopterygii, Pleuronectiformes): a new flounder species from the Baltic Sea

The European flounders Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758) displays two contrasting reproductive behaviors in the Baltic Sea: offshore spawning of pelagic eggs and coastal spawning of demersal eggs, a behavior observed exclusively in the Baltic Sea. Previous studies showed marked differences in behavioral, physiological, and life-history traits of flounders with pelagic and demersal eggs. Furthermore, a recent study demonstrated that flounders with pelagic and demersal eggs represent two reproductively isolated, parapatric species arising from two distinct colonization events from the same ancestral population. Using morphological data we first established that the syntypes on which the original description of P. flesus was based belong the pelagic-spawning lineage. We then used a combination of morphological and physiological characters as well as genome-wide genetic data to describe flounders with demersal eggs as a new species: Platichthys solemdali sp. nov. The new species can be cl...