Olive flounder

The Olive Flounder (ヒラメ, Hirame) is a saltwater fish in the introduced in. It is very similar in appearance to the Dab, another saltwater fish, and is even confused with it by the player in the its catch quotes in and.

In, it is used for the Soup de Poisson and Olive Flounder Meunière recipes for the Harvest Festival.

Donating to the museum
As with all bugs and fish in the, the olive flounder can be donated to the museum by talking to Blathers. During a donation, Blathers will tell the player a bit about the donation. Below is what he has to say.

In
Blathers has this to say about the Olive Flounder in :
 * "For some time, I was convinced that olive flounder tasted of olives. It turned out that it was a rather elaborate joke played upon me... I should have known there are no such things as flounder olives, either!"

In
Upon donating the Olive Flounder in, Blathers will say the following:
 * "Olive flounders are masters of self-transformation... who, I'm told, can grow to almost 40 inches (a meter) long. That's like some sort of underwater bath mat! It's a good thing you caught this one while it's still young!"

It can be found in the tank at the back of the aquarium, hiding underneath sand, with other sea fish.

In
The information board in front of the tank that holds the Olive Flounder says the following:
 * "Olive flounders are rather flexible whitefish that have both eyes on the left side of their body. They can reach three feet in length and are commonly mistaken for dabs, a close relative. When young, they have an eye on each side, but as they age, their right eye migrates to their left side. These carnivorous fish can change color to camouflage themselves on the seabed as they wait for prey."

In
Upon donating the Olive Flounder in, Blathers will say the following:


 * "Did you know that the olive flounder is the same shape as other fish when it hatches? But as it grows, it gets both wider and flatter, and can reach some three feet long. These flat fish spend much of their lives buried under the sandy ocean floor, waiting for prey to happen by. Imagine the surprise for said prey when they strike. It would be as if your kitchen floor were to bite you."

Chip will say this when given an Olive Flounder:


 * "Olive flounder–BOY, are they tasty! In fact, I'm just gonna go ahead and scarf this guy down right very second! I can hardly wait!"

Real-world information
The Olive Flounder is an Asian flatfish that occupies a large area of Asian flatfish taken for commercial reasons. Hirame (平目 / ヒラメ) as it is called in Japan or (광어 Korea Flatfish) as it is known is Korea is widely raised in aquaculture in China, Korea and Japan as a food fish. It is a very large type of flatfish that can be well over a meter in length which is far larger than most other species that typically never reach more than 30 cm.