Details
Hippoglossus stenolepis
The Pacific halibut is a large flatfish of the North Pacific seafloor. Active across day and night, it hides on the bottom and takes fish and crustaceans.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It uses cold continental shelves, slopes, and sandy or muddy bottoms in the Pacific. Depth shifts with age and season, but life remains close to the seafloor.
Length is about 80-250 cm and weight about 10-220 kg. The flattened body has both eyes on one side, with a dark mottled upper surface that blends into the bottom.
It often lies on the seabed but can travel long distances when conditions change. Individuals are solitary to loosely dispersed across broad bottom habitats.
It is carnivorous, eating fish, crabs, shrimp, and squid. From the bottom it opens the mouth quickly to suck in nearby prey.
Spawning occurs in deeper water from winter into spring. Eggs and larvae drift in the sea before young settle to bottom life.
Its status is listed as Least Concern. It is an important fishery species, so management is central to maintaining populations with large adults.
