''Zeugopterus regius'', Eckström's topknot or Bloch's topknot, is a small, 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

turbot The turbot (''Scophthalmus maximus'') is a relatively large species of flatfish in the family Scophthalmidae. It is a demersal fish native to marine or brackish waters of the Northeast Atlantic, Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It is an im ...

family Scophthalmidae found in European waters.

Description

''Zeugopterus regius'' is a relatively broad bodied, left-eyed flatfish which has a small head with a deep notch to the front of the upper eye. The anal and dorsal fins continue on to the underside of the body, forming distinct lobes. It is pale brown in colour with irregular darker patches and a dark blotch towards the tail end. The maximum length of an adult fish is around .

Biology

''Zeugopterus regius'' is found over rocky substrates, less frequently on sandy seafloors. It feeds on invertebrates and small fish. The breeding season falls between February and August. It is sometimes found on the underside or rock overhangs but not as often as its cogener, the common topknot, '' Zeugopterus punctatus''.

Distribution

This is a fish of the eastern

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 ...

, occurring from the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and extending into the western

Mediterranean 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 e ...

and the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1634412 Fish of Europe Scophthalmidae Fish described in 1788