Turbot

The turbot is one of the most bizarre fish in the Black Sea - its body is quite flat and rhomboid in shape. The eyes and mouth are located on the upper part of the body. Its coloration is similar to sand, dotted with small spots and insular bony plates. All of this is no coincidence at all - the turbot spends much of its life almost motionless on the seabed directly on the sand or rocks, and this helps it to be almost invisible. Thus, in addition to protecting themselves from their enemies, these fish hunt. Unsuspecting fish approach the mouth of the turbot and with a deft movement it grabs and eats them. It also feeds on crustaceans and mussels and is one of the apex predators in our sea. But the turbot does not look like this all its life. The hatchlings emerge a week after the eggs are laid and are owl-shaped.

Their eyes are located on both sides of the head and feed on plankton. When they reach 10 cm in length, they begin to flatten until they take on the adult shape. In spring and autumn they stick close to shore in the shallower parts of the sea, and in summer and winter they migrate to deeper water.

The turbot starts breeding very late - only when it is 5 years old. By then, many of the young die or are caught, and this is the reason why it is an increasingly rare species. Illegal poaching, trawling and ploughing of the seabed and pollution are also causes of its decline.