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Hippoglossus hippoglossus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Atlantic halibut
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Hippoglossus hippoglossus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Hippoglossus hippoglossus (Atlantic halibut)
Hippoglossus hippoglossus
Picture by Dolgov, A.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes) > Pleuronectidae (Righteye flounders) > Hippoglossinae
Etymology: Hippoglossus: Greek, ippos = horse + Greek, glossa = tongue (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

Marine; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 50 - 2000 m (Ref. 4705). Temperate; 79°N - 36°N, 77°W - 55°E

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

Northwestern Atlantic: southwestern Greenland and Labrador in Canada to Virginia in USA (Ref. 7251); Northeastern Atlantic: Bay of Biscay to Spitsbergen, Barents Sea, Iceland and eastern Greenland.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 122.0, range 135 - ? cm
Max length : 470 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251); 300.0 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 320.0 kg (Ref. 7251); max. reported age: 50 years (Ref. 173)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 98 - 110; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 73 - 85. Uniformly dark brown or black; young marbled or spotted with paler marks (Ref. 4705).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are benthic but occasionally pelagic (Ref. 4705). Feed mainly on other fishes (cod, haddock, pogge, sand-eels, herring, capelin), but also takes cephalopods, large crustaceans and other bottom-living animals. Batch spawner (Ref. 51846). Growth rate varies according to density, competition and availability of food. Slow growth rate and late onset of sexual maturity, halibut populations can be seriously affected by overfishing (Ref. 35388). Utilized fresh, dried or salted, smoked and frozen; can be steamed, fried, broiled, boiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988). Also Ref. 58426.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Males reach sexual maturity at 7-8 years and females at 10-11 years. Spawning happens from December to April, near the bottom (300 to 700 m), at temperatures between 5 and 7°. Egg size 3.0-3.8, larval size at hatching 6.5 mm (Ref. 4705).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Amaoka, Kunio | Collaborators

Vinnikov, K.A., R.C. Thomson and T.A. Munroe, 2018. Revised classification of the righteye flounders (Teleostei: Pleuronectidae) based on multilocus phylogeny with complete taxon sampling. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 125:147-162. (Ref. 122998)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Near Threatened (NT) ; Date assessed: 12 February 2021

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: experimental; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Aquaculture systems: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

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

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 0.4 - 7.9, mean 3.4 °C (based on 1760 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00550 (0.00398 - 0.00759), b=3.17 (3.08 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.0   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (tmax=30; tm=10; K=0.02-0.2; Fec=1,300,000; also Musick et al. 2000 (Ref. 36717)).
Prior r = 0.27, 95% CL = 0.18 - 0.40, Based on 1 full stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (88 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (43 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 5.62 [1.90, 13.84] mg/100g; Iron = 0.178 [0.067, 0.495] mg/100g; Protein = 17.9 [16.0, 20.4] %; Omega3 = 0.35 [0.14, 0.90] g/100g; Selenium = 57.8 [19.5, 148.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 7.93 [1.78, 32.76] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.387 [0.168, 0.655] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.