Halibut

Japanese name

 * ohyo
 * sometimes inaccurately called hirame

About halibut
A fish whose meat is lowfat, white, firm and mild flavored. It’s suitable for almost any manner of preparation. The halibut is a flatfish with very big dimensions. Halibuts are saltwater fishes, they can be found in oceans or seas, generally on the bottom of the water. Halibut are members of the order Pleuronectiformes of flatfishes. Halibut are slow swimmers and they use their ability of chancing their color and hiding in the sand to capture their prey. Halibut are the largest members of the flatfishes order and they can reach the weight of three hundred kilograms. Halibuts have a more compressed body comparing to other flatfishes and their body is covered with small scales. Halibut natural color is similar to the ocean’s bottom colors on the top while on the bottom they have a lighter color. Halibut have both eyes on their dark side, on top of their body. They live a medium life: for about forty years the females and twenty years the males. They live a long period depending on their location and habitat conditions. Halibuts feed on small fishes such as cod, turbot, Pollock, crabs, shrimps and pelagic fish such as sand lance and herring. Halibuts spawn in the winter from December to February.