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Turbot

Fish · Last reviewed 2026-08-10

A large, almost circular left-eyed flatfish with bony tubercles instead of scales, the most valuable flatfish in European waters.

A small turbot held up by the lure in its mouth against a background of breaking surf, its body almost circular and noticeably broader than it is long, the upward-facing side sandy brown and freckled with darker spots.
A small turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) from the surf at Vejers Strand, Denmark, June 2019. The near-circular outline — broader than long — is the turbot's shape. The bony tubercles scattered over the eyed side, which are what actually separate a turbot from a brill, are not resolvable at this size, so this frame shows the fish rather than settling the comparison.Identified by: The near-circular, strongly broader-than-long disc characteristic of Scophthalmus maximus, with sandy mottling and darker spotting on the eyed side. Two agreeing identifications on the source, none disagreeing. The reviewer records that outline alone is the weakest the character ever is on a fish this small, which is why this row is illustrative rather than identification.Jonas Holm Hald Therkildsen — CC0, via iNaturalist — source, licence

Turbot is the premier flatfish of European seas, both to eat and to catch: a broad, almost circular, left-eyed ambush predator lying on sand and gravel banks, taking sand eels and small fish from concealment.

It is separated from brill — the fish it is most often confused with — by texture rather than by shape. A turbot has no scales; instead the upper surface carries scattered bony tubercles that feel unmistakably rough under a hand. A brill is smooth, with small scales, and has a distinctly fringed front edge to the dorsal fin.

It is a genuinely large flatfish and a prime target over offshore banks, where it is fished with baited rigs presented hard on clean ground.

Identification

FishingHQ holds no photograph of this species whose identity and licensing it can vouch for, so it is not showing one. Misidentified fish photographs teach identification wrongly, and a picture with an unchecked caption would be worse than none. The identification points below are what to look at instead.

Scientific name
Scophthalmus maximus
Family
Scophthalmidae
Water
Saltwater, Brackish
Conservation status
Least Concern
Regions
Western Europe, Britain & Ireland, Northern Europe, Mediterranean
  • Bony tubercles scattered over the upper surface, giving a rough feel; brill is smooth-scaled.
  • Broad, almost circular body outline — wider relative to length than a brill.
  • Eyes on the left side, with a large mouth and no fringed rays at the front of the dorsal fin.
  • Sandy brown upper surface mottled to match the ground, over a white blind side.

Size

Typical
1–4 kg (2.2–8.8 lb)
Large
6–12 kg (13–26 lb)

Exceptional: FishBase records a maximum of 100 cm and 25 kg

Lifecycle and reproduction

Moderately long-lived with females growing considerably larger than males. Slow-growing in northern waters, and heavily exploited commercially across its range.

Spawns in spring and early summer over sandy ground in relatively shallow coastal water, broadcasting pelagic eggs. Juveniles settle in very shallow inshore water.

Feeding and senses

An ambush predator lying part-buried on sand and gravel, taking sand eels, small fish and crustaceans with a fast upward strike.

Hunts by sight from concealment with both eyes on the upper surface, relying on camouflage against clean ground. Strikes are short-range and upward.

Through the year

Moves onto shallower banks in the warmer months and into deeper water in winter, with the summer bank fishing forming the core of the recreational fishery.

Distribution

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

This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.

Why anglers care

A prime European boat target over sand and gravel banks, taken on sand eel, mackerel strip and launce presented on flowing traces that let the bait work on the ground. Its significance is size and value — turbot is the most sought-after flatfish in European waters. Practitioner consensus is that presentation on the bottom matters more than bait choice, and that turbot banks fish best on a running tide.

Handling and returning

A heavy-bodied fish; support the whole body rather than lifting by the head or gill cover. The tubercles are abrasive rather than dangerous. Undersized fish should be returned promptly and gently, and returned flat rather than dropped.

Going further

Where to go next

Similar and related fish

What these connections rest on (1)

Scientific evidence — 1 connection

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Brill

    An identification comparison naming both binomials: Scophthalmus maximus and Scophthalmus rhombus.

    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Morphological and distributional data for Scophthalmus maximus and for Scophthalmus rhombus.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Separate assessments treating Scophthalmus maximus and Scophthalmus rhombus as distinct species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How it is caught

What these connections rest on (2)

Practitioner consensus — 2 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Drift fishing

    A practitioner claim about how Scophthalmus maximus is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for turbot.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for turbot and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Ledgering

    A practitioner claim about how Scophthalmus maximus is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for turbot.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for turbot and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Gear for this fish

What these connections rest on (2)

Practitioner consensus — 2 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Fish strip and cut bait

    A practitioner claim about tackle commonly used for Scophthalmus maximus.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of this presentation for turbot.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of comparable presentations for the species group.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Sand eel

    A practitioner claim about tackle commonly used for Scophthalmus maximus.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of this presentation for turbot.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of comparable presentations for the species group.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where it lives

What these connections rest on (1)

Scientific evidence — 1 connection

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Inshore ground

    A habitat association for Scophthalmus maximus taken from the environment and distribution data on its FishBase summary.

    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The environment, depth range and habitat description recorded for Scophthalmus maximus.States this directlyPassage read and verified

Where you will find it

What these connections rest on (3)

Scientific evidence — 3 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Bulgaria

    That a species occurs in these waters, drawn from distribution science and stock assessment. It is a statement about where the animal lives and is not a statement that anybody will catch one, still less where.

    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Identification, distribution and habitat association of the fishes and invertebrates of the Mediterranean and Black Sea.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Recorded distribution, depth range and habitat association of the species named.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • Chesil Beach

    A distribution association between an animal and a described water body, which is what the `inhabits` predicate is for — the kind of water rather than a named mark.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, depth and ground preference of fishes in British and north-west European waters.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association and depth range recorded for the species.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • The Black Sea

    A distribution edge resting on published identification and distribution references rather than on angling report, written where the species is genuinely characteristic of the system rather than merely recorded in it once.

    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Recorded environment, salinity tolerance, depth range, distribution and biology of the species named.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association and identification of the fishes of the Mediterranean and Black Sea region.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Understanding this fish

What these connections rest on (1)

Practitioner consensus — 1 connection

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Filleting: the principles, not the recipe

    A statement about how a species is prepared, which is convention shaped by anatomy rather than a biological claim, and is labelled as practitioner consensus accordingly.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including catch handling convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Sources for this page

  • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Family, maximum size, depth and environment, distribution and the IUCN assessment for Scophthalmus maximus.States this directlyPassage read and verified
  • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The Least Concern assessment for Scophthalmus maximus, assessed 07 December 2020.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.

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