Megrim

The Megrim is a slender-bodied flatfish found across the Northeast Atlantic and parts of the Mediterranean, well known to commercial fisheries for its firm, delicate flesh. It belongs to the turbot family and, unlike many other flatfishes, is left-eyed, meaning both eyes sit on the left side of its body as an adult. Compared with related species such as turbot and brill, the Megrim has a noticeably thinner, more elongated body and a large, oblique mouth suited to catching small fish and crustaceans in open water just above the seabed. It is an important target of trawl fisheries in European waters and supports significant commercial landings each year.

Key field marks:

• Thin, elongated, oval-shaped body compared to the rounder shape of turbot or brill
• Eyes and pigmentation on the left side (left-eyed flatfish)
• Sandy brown to gray-tan coloration, generally uniform with faint mottling
• Large, oblique mouth reaching well past the eye
• Small scales that feel smooth rather than the rough, tubercle-studded skin of turbot

Look-alikes: Frequently confused with the four-spot megrim (Lepidorhombus boscii), which has four dark blotches near the tail; also compared to brill, which has a deeper, more rounded body and rougher skin texture.

Megrim occupy the continental shelf and upper slope of the Northeast Atlantic, from Norway and Iceland south to the Mediterranean and Northwest Africa. They are typically found on sandy, muddy, or mixed sediment seabeds at depths ranging from about 50 to over 800 feet (15-250 m), with some populations recorded considerably deeper on the slope. They favor open, current-swept bottoms rather than rocky or heavily vegetated habitat. As a fully marine species, Megrim require normal oceanic salinity and are not found in estuaries or freshwater. Distribution shifts seasonally, with adults often moving into slightly deeper water outside the spawning season.

Megrim are demersal predators that rest on the seabed but are more active swimmers than many other flatfish, often rising into midwater to chase prey such as small fish, squid, and crustaceans. They are solitary for most of the year, aggregating mainly during the spawning season, which generally runs from spring into summer depending on latitude. Females release large numbers of small, buoyant eggs that drift in the plankton before hatching; larvae undergo the typical flatfish metamorphosis, with one eye migrating to the opposite side of the head before the juvenile settles to the bottom. Growth is moderate, and Megrim can live for over a decade in favorable conditions.