Turbot, << TUR buht, >> is a name given to a number of large flatfish that live on the sea floor. The most familiar turbot is the European turbot. It lives along the Atlantic Coast of Europe and in the Mediterranean Sea. From the side it looks almost as round as a plate. It seldom grows more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) long and usually weighs from 18 to 30 pounds (8 to 14 kilograms). But fishing crews sometimes catch 55-pound (25-kilogram) turbot that measure more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) long. The European turbot is flat and wide, with a long fin on its top and bottom ridges. Hard, round knobs cover its brown upper side. Both eyes are on the left side. It lays as many as 10 million eggs.
The European turbot is valuable commercially and is exported. It became a favorite fish of the English. Certain flounders such as the Greenland halibut are sometimes called turbots, but these are not true turbots.
