LAUSR

The speckled flounder Paralichthys woolmani is a flatfish species found in Ecuadorian coastal waters, consumed by local coastal communities and likely an excellent candidate for aquaculture production in indoor facilities. This study describes the early development and culture technique of P. woolmani under experimental conditions. Broodstocks were obtained from the wild and kept under laboratory conditions for this study. A total of four effective spontaneous spawns were registered at water temperature of 24.1°C, resulting in 1.3 million eggs and 129.2 thousand newly hatched larvae. Larval pelagic life lasted 28 days post hatch. Survival at benthic juvenile stage ranged 0.3%–46.9%. Pseudoalbinism was present in all juvenile batches. However, different pigmentation patterns in juveniles were recovered with addition of semi‐moist diet. There was no presence of ectoparasites or abnormal eye migration. At 370 days post hatch, flatfish reached 294.6 ± 86.9 g of body weight. These results can be of practical use for optimizing culture conditions to increase the yield of P. woolmani in captivity.