Scophthalmus maximus, Turbot : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish, aquarium

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Scophthalmus maximus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Turbot
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Scophthalmus maximus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Scophthalmus maximus (Turbot)
Scophthalmus maximus
Picture by Quantz, G.

Portugal country information

Common names: Pregado
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: occasional (usually not seen) | Ref: Veiga, P., J. Ribeiro, J.M.S. Gonçalves and K. Erzini, 2010
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: commercial | Ref: FAO, 1997
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Recorded from the south and southwest coast (Ref. 85184).
National Checklist: Portugal
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/po.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Muus, B. and P. Dahlström, 1978
National Database: Portuguese Freshwater Fishes

Common names from other countries

Rodaballo, 大菱鲆, Калкан, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes) > Scophthalmidae (Turbots)
Etymology: Scophthalmus: Greek, skopelos = a lantern fish + Greek, ophthalmos = eyes (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 20 - 70 m (Ref. 6302). Temperate; 70°N - 30°N, 25°W - 42°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Northeast Atlantic: throughout the Mediterranean and along the European coasts to Arctic Circle; also found in most of the Baltic Sea. Subspecies Psetta maxima maeotica in the Black Sea.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 40.8, range 41 - 54 cm
Max length : 100.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4703); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35388); common length :70 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 25.0 kg (Ref. 9988); max. reported age: 25 years (Ref. 32766)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Body almost circular. Eye side without scales but with large bony tubercles (Ref. 35388).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep; Cross section: flattened.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults live on sandy, rocky or mixed bottoms; rather common in brackish waters. Feed mainly on other bottom-living fishes (sand-eels, gobies, etc.), and also, to a lesser extent, on larger crustaceans and bivalves. Batch spawner (Ref. 51846). Spawning season is between April and August; pelagic eggs. May reach 25 kg (Ref. 9988). Highly esteemed food fish. Utilized fresh or frozen; eaten steamed, pan-fried, broiled, boiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Spawning usually happens between the months of February and April in the Mediterranean and from May to July in the Atlantic. Sequenced spawning every 2-4 days. Eggs have a single fat drop. Larvae are initially symmetric but, at the end of the metamorphosis (day 40-50, 25 mm), the right eye moves to the left side, losing its initial bilateral symmetry. Egg size 0.9 - 1.2 mm, larval length at hatching 2.7-3.1 mm.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Bauchot, M.-L., 1987. Poissons osseux. p. 891-1421. In W. Fischer, M.L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (eds.) Fiches FAO d'identification pour les besoins de la pêche. (rev. 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de pêche 37. Vol. II. Commission des Communautés Européennes and FAO, Rome. (Ref. 3397)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 07 December 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Aquaculture systems: production, species profile; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
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Abundance
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Maturity
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Distribution
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Physiology
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Nutrients
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Visual pigments
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Genetics
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Genetics
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References

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture systems: production, species profile; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 5.9 - 11.9, mean 9.4 °C (based on 239 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5645   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01122 (0.00922 - 0.01365), b=3.06 (3.00 - 3.12), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 4.8 (3.8 - 5.8) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 24 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.15-0.28; tm=3-5; tmax=26; Fec=5 million).
Prior r = 0.50, 95% CL = 0.33 - 0.75, Based on 9 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (60 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (65 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 28.5 [12.1, 48.8] mg/100g; Iron = 0.144 [0.058, 0.649] mg/100g; Protein = 19.5 [18.0, 21.0] %; Omega3 = 0.275 [0.153, 0.500] g/100g; Selenium = 14.1 [6.4, 33.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 8.19 [2.10, 35.13] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.156 [0.092, 0.524] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.