The upper surface is usually pale brown in colour with scattered darker blotches and speckles, but does not have the orange spots typical of a plaice.

[4][8] The common dab's diet consists of zoobenthos organisms such as marine worms, molluscs, sand eels, amphipods, crustaceans, echinoderms and small pieces of fish.

[4] The common dab is a bottom dweller, found in coastal waters in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.

[10][11] However, the declining numbers of other food fish such as cod and haddock has seen dab become an increasingly important commercial species.

A number of high-profile celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver have attempted to get people to eat more dab in order to take the pressure off the species of commercial fish which are currently heavily exploited.