What is a freshwater flounder?

The freshwater flounder, Trinectes maculatus, is more commonly known as the hogchoker. It is native to the Atlantic coast of the United States. Contrary to its nickname, the freshwater flounder lives in brackish water, as it requires salt.

Hogchokers are difficult to keep in home aquariums because they are only caught in the wild and not cultivated for the aquarium trade. Most hogchokers have difficulty feeding and only eat live food such as Tubifex worms, Daphnia, larvae and shrimp. In the wild, hogchokers sift the substrate with suction from their mouths, allowing them to pick up and ingest tiny organisms in a way that is not possible in most aquariums.