Brill (fish)

For other uses of the word Brill, see Brill (disambiguation).

Brill
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Pleuronectiformes
Family:	Scophthalmidae
Genus:	Scophthalmus
Species:	S. rhombus
Binomial name
Scophthalmus rhombus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The brill, Scophthalmus rhombus, is a species of flatfish in the turbot family (Scophthalmidae) of the order Pleuronectiformes. Brill can be found in the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea, and Mediterranean, primarily in deeper offshore waters.

Brill have slender bodies, brown covered with lighter and darker coloured flecks, excluding the tailfin; the underside of the fish is usually cream coloured or pinkish white. Like other flatfish the brill has the ability to match its colour to the surroundings. Brill are on average between 40 cm to 75 cm in length and weigh up 3 kg. Part of the dorsal fin of the fish is not connected to the fin membrane, giving the fish a frilly appearance. They are sometimes confused with the Turbot (Psetta maxima), which is more diamond-shaped. The two species are related and can produce hybrids. On the west coast of Canada local fisherman refer to the petrale sole, Eopsetta jordani, as brill.

Name in other languages

Brill

Language	Name
Galician	Coruxo
French	Barbue
Italian	Rombo Liscio
Catalan	Rèmol
Danish	Slethvar
Dutch	Griet
Polish	Nagład
Swedish	Slätvar
Norwegian	Slettvar
German	Glattbutt
Romanian	Calcan
Greek	Καλκάνι (Calcani)
Portuguese	Rodovalho
Slovene	Gladki romb
Spanish	Rombo
Turkish	Kalkan
Finnish	Silokampela
Ukrainian	Калкан гладенький
Estonian	Sile kammeljas
Lithuanian	Uotas

Sources

• Scophthalmus rhombus Marine Life Encyclopedia
• Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Scophthalmus rhombus" in FishBase. February 2006 version.

External links

• Brill, in What Am I Eating? A Food Dictionary