The adult Pacific sanddab is bilaterally asymmetrical and ‘left-eyed’, meaning both eyes are located on the left side of its body.

[1] Due to their abundance in coastal ecosystems, Pacific sanddabs have an important ecological role, providing food for various predators such as marine mammals, birds, and fish.

They comprise a significant part of some breeding seabird diets, such as the Brandt’s cormorant and Pigeon guillemot, the latter of which may be considered a sanddab specialist.

[5] Like all flatfish, the Pacific sanddab begins life as a bilaterally symmetrical fish larva,[2] a stage which lasts for up to 271 days.

Additionally, by swimming close to the bottom, the Pacific sanddab and other flatfishes are able to move more efficiently and conserve energy using the ground effect.

[citation needed] As Pacific sanddabs have a rapid growth rate coupled with early maturation, their vulnerability to overfishing is believed to be relatively low.