The megrim, megrim sole, whiff, or Cornish sole (''Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis'') is a species of left-eyed

flatfish A flatfish is a member of the Ray-finned fish, ray-finned demersal fish order (biology), order Pleuronectiformes, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the ...

in the family

Scophthalmidae The Scophthalmidae are a family of flatfish found in the North Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea.Chanet, B. (2003)Interrelationships of scophthalmid fishes (Pleuronectiformes: Scopththalmidae).''Cybium'' 27(4) 275-86. F ...

. It is found in the northeast Atlantic and

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

between below sea level. It is caught commercially by some countries.

Description

It can grow up to in length. It is left-eyed, has a slightly larger head than usual in flatfish, and with a narrower body than usual. The dorsal and ventral fins are relatively short and start far back on the body. The colouration is usually light brown with dark spots across the body and dark grey fins. It lacks the highly distinct dark spots found on the fins in its close relative, the

four-spot megrim The four-spot megrim (''Lepidorhombus boscii'') is a species of flatfish in the family Scophthalmidae. It is found a depths between in the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean. It can be separated from its close relative, the megrim or whiff ('' ...

(''L. boscii'').

Habitat

The megrim is usually found over a sandy or muddy sea floor. They are predators and eat small fish and squid and also consume crustaceans. In turn megrim are themselves prey for larger species such as sharks, seals and large cod. Megrim spawn in deep waters off

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and the west of Ireland, while there is a separate spawning population in the Mediterranean.

Range

This species is found throughout European waters and the Northeast Atlantic including the

Sea of the Hebrides The Sea of the Hebrides ( gd, An Cuan Barrach, ) is a small, partly sheltered section of the North Atlantic Ocean, indirectly off the southern part of the north-west coast of Scotland. To the east are the mainland of Scotland and the northern I ...

. Megrim are also found off the north coast of Africa and in parts of the Mediterranean.

Commercial value

Megrim are commercially valuable and are caught by a number of nations around Europe. It is caught by bottom

trawling Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different speci ...

and is directly targeted in some fisheries, whereas in others it is retained as a valuable bycatch. France and Spain are the largest consumers of this species with most of the megrim caught in British water being exported to these nations. However, there has been a drive in Britain to get people to eat more megrim as a way of taking pressure off overexploited fish such as cod and haddock. Megrim can be cooked in a number of different ways with grilling, baking, frying and poaching all effective ways of preparing this species. It has been described as being similar to sole or plaice in terms of preparation, but not being comparable in terms of flavour or texture. In the UK, megrim has been given the alternative name of Cornish sole as a way of making this species, most of the UK catch of which was formerly exported to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, more appealing to UK consumers after

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

Description

Habitat

Range

Commercial value

References

Further reading