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How is ambicoloration connected to incomplete eye migration in flatfishes?

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Body plan and sexual dimorphism in the common sole (Solea solea) and dusky flounder (Syacium papillosum). — pleuronectiform Body plan and sexual dimorphism in the common sole (*Solea solea*) and dusky flounder (*Syacium papillosum*).

In pleuronectiforms, the process of metamorphosis typically involves one eye migrating across the head so that both eyes reside on the same side in adults. While normal adult flatfishes possess a colored ocular side and an unpigmented blind side, ambicoloration refers to the abnormal development of pigment on the ordinarily white, eyeless side.123

This condition is frequently linked to incomplete eye migration, where the migrating eye fails to complete its journey and stops on the middorsal ridge. This developmental disruption is often accompanied by a hooked appearance in the fish, which results from the unattached origin of the dorsal fin.1