Turbot

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Turbot

Psetta maxima

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Pleuronectiformes
Family:	Scophthalmidae

Genera

Lepidorhombus
Phrynorhombus
Psetta
Scophthalmus
Zeugopterus

For other uses, see Turbot (disambiguation).

Turbot [pronounced tur-bit or alternately tur-bo] (family Scophthalmidae, order Pleuronectiformes) are flatfish native to marine or brackish waters of the North Atlantic. The taxon name comes from the Greek language, with skopein meaning "to look" and ophthalmos meaning "eye".

The European turbot (Psetta maxima) is a large left-eyed flatfish found primarily close to shore in sandy shallow waters throughout the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the North Atlantic. The European turbot has an asymmetrical disk-shaped body, and may attain sizes of 30 to 40 pounds (approx. 15 to 17 kilograms).

Turbot is highly prized for its delicate flavour, and is a valuable commercial species, acquired through aquaculture and trawling. Turbot are farmed in France, Spain, Chile, Norway and China.

Turbot has a bright white flesh that retains its appearance when cooked. Like all flatfish, turbot yields four fillets with meatier topside portions that may be baked, poached or pan-fried.

American English speakers often pronounce turbot as tur-bo, likely a back-formation based on French words ending in -ot, and it is pronounced as such in the French language as well.

Greenland Turbot, sometimes known as blue halibut, is usually harvested in the cold waters off Greenland in water depths of up to 1000m. Both flavor and texture is very similar to Pacific Halibut.