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Fish4Life provides everything you need to enjoy seafood responsibly. Explore information and practical tips for safe and sustainable seafood consumption, and help protect marine life by reporting undersized or illegally traded seafood.

Turbot
Scophthalmus maximus
Καλκάνι

Sustainability Status

Highly exploited

REPORT IT
Help us protect our seas by reporting illegal or undersized fish that you see in markets, restaurants or fishing boats
Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation
Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Legal

Minimum Size

–

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

30 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

April – June

Advice for Consumption

Think before consuming this species.

Greek legislation does not establish legal minimum size and no closed season, leaving juvenile and spawning fish completely unprotected. Always respect minimum sustainable size limits and do not consume this species during its breeding season.

Choose sustainable seafood!

Archipelagos Tips

Choosing larger, mature fish helps reduce fishing pressure on juvenile individuals.

Common names

FR

Turbot

it

Rombo

es

Turbot

tr

Kalkan

pt

Pregado

nl

Tarbot

de

Steinbutt

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Near threatened (NT)

Description

Body almost circular in outline, about one and a half times as long as wide. Dorsal fin with 57-80 rays and anal fin with 43-58 rays. The dorsal and anal fins do not continue under the tail. The skin lacks scales, which are replaced by scattered bony tubercles. The tail is densely speckled and the body covered with spots and speckles, although it is well camouflaged.

It looks like Scophthalmus rhombus (Brill), both are flatfish, and while brill has a similar mottled appearance, it is generally darker and has scales that are clearly felt, unlike the smooth skin of a turbot

Did you know?

Turbots are one of the largest species of flatfish and can grow up to 25 kilograms!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Carnivorous.
Feeds mainly on other bottom-living fishes (sand-eels, gobies, etc.), and to a lesser extent, on larger crustaceans and bivalves.

habitat

Benthopelagic.
Adults live on sandy, rocky or mixed bottoms; rather common in brackish waters.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 100 cm
Max weight: 25 kg
Depth range: 20-70 m

breeding & Growth

It is a batch spawner. The female releasing eggs over a period of 2 to 4 months between April and August.
Growth rate: Slow-moderate (k = 0.23yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 10-20 years
Max reported age: 25 years
Distribution: Throughout the Mediterranean and along the European coasts to Arctic Circle, also found in most of the Baltic Sea.

appearance changes

It goes through a drastic morphological shift as it develops from a pelagic larva into a benthic adult. As the larvae grow and prepare to settle on the sea floor, the fish undergo metamorphosis. The skull twists, and the left eye migrates over the dorsal ridge to the right side of the head. The body becomes strongly compressed (flattened) and more opaque, adopting the classic side-swimming posture of flatfish.

Reproductive Cycle

It produces about 1 million eggs per kilogram of body weight per year. During the spawning season, females release smaller batches of eggs sequentially, spawning every 2 to 4 days.
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Good choice – Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable

Illegal species – Fishing, selling and consumption of this species is illegal

Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation

Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Bad choice – Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Health concerns –
Can accumulate dangerously high levels of toxic substances harmful to health

Alien / Invasive – This species is not from this region and can have a negative impact on the ecosystem and threaten local biodiversity, so it is sustainable to eat

Aquafarms – You will commonly find this species coming from aquafarms