The spiny turbots are a family, Psettodidae, of relatively large, primitive

flatfish A flatfish is a member of the Ray-finned fish, ray-finned demersal fish Order (biology), suborder Pleuronectoidei, also called the Heterosomata. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through or around ...

found in the tropical waters of the east

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

. The family contains just three species, all in the same genus, ''Psettodes''. The common name comes from the presence of spines in the dorsal and

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

s, which may indicate an evolutionary relationship with the

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish in the clade Percomorpha. ''Perciformes'' means " perch-like". Among the well-known members of this group are perches and darters ( Percidae), and als ...

. They are less asymmetrical than other flatfish, although the region around the eyes is twisted. They reach lengths of . Pseru l0

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Psettodes belcheri'' E. T. Bennett, 1831 (spottail spiny turbot) * '' Psettodes bennetti'' Steindachner, 1870 (spiny turbot) * '' Psettodes erumei'' (

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter *Alexandre Bloch (1857–1919), French painter *Alfred Bloch ( ...

& J. G. Schneider, 1801) (Indian halibut)

References

Pleuronectoidei Taxa named by Edward Turner Bennett {{Pleuronectiformes-stub