Upper surface dark and frequently mottled, lower surface white. Lateral line arches over pelvic fin. Larger individuals feed on fishes and squid, also off the bottom. Halibut move inshore in late winter and early spring to spawn and feed, then move offshore in late fall and winter.
Eggs float in midwater, sink as larvae develop.
Females can live as long as 30 years. Delicious but possibly exposed to pollutants in Santa Monica Bay. As larvae, they begin to settle out of the water column. One of the eyes migrates from one side of the fish to the other. It can be either eye.