Dab (Pleuronectes limanda), a species of Flounder (q.v.), common on European coasts, but not occurring in the Mediterranean. It is distinguishable from plaice and flounder by its light-brown, or ashen-gray colour, with small irregular dark spots, by the roughness of its small, close-set scales, and by its more arched lateral line. Its length is from 8 to 16 inches. It is common all round Britain, and in the Firth of Forth is known as the Salt-water Fluke. Its flavour excels that of flounder. A rather larger species, of even more northern distribution, is the Lemon or Smooth Dab (P. microcephalus). It may be distinguished from the common dab by the fact that the first ray of the anal fin is not spiny. The brownish colour is sometimes prettily mottled.