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), order Pleuronectiformes, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the ...

found in the tropical waters of the east

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

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 distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

s, which may indicate an evolutionary relationship with the Perciformes. 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 Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner describ ...

, 1870 (spiny turbot) * ''

Psettodes erumei ''Psettodes erumei'', commonly known as the Indian halibut or adalah, is a species of flounder found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Ba ...

'' (

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A–F * (1859-1914), French rabbi *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter * (born 1972), German motor journal ...

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

References

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