California halibut

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iCalifornia halibut

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Pleuronectiformes
Family:	Paralichthyidae
Genus:	Paralichthys
Species:	P. californicus

Binomial name

Paralichthys californicus
(Ayres, 1859)

The California halibut or California flounder, Paralichthys californicus, is a large-tooth flounder that ranges from Monterey, California to Baja California waters. It feeds near shore and is free swimming. It typically weighs 6 to 50 pounds (3 to 23 kg). It is much smaller than the larger and more northern-ranging Pacific halibut that can reach 300 pounds (140 kg).

A top level predator that hunts by stealth, it is prized by fishermen as great table fare.

Sport fishers typically use light fishing gear and live baits for this halibut. Baits include anchovies, sardine, squid, mackerel, and queenfish (brownbait). Some anglers use plastic lures and scampitype "lead heads" to fool a halibut into striking.

Mostly fishing from boats in the coastal regions, anglers catch good quantities of halibut in 10 to 80 feet of water. Sometimes the fish are caught from shore or by kayak fishermen in very shallow water. Slow trolling and drift fishing is the preferred method of bait presentation.

This is an unusual fish in that one eye has to migrate around from one side to the other as it grows from an upright fry or baby fish into an adult fish that lays on its side. The adult has two eyes on the up-side as it lays on the bottom. The fish hides under sand or loose gravel and blends into the bottom. See flatfish for more information on this.