Pacific halibut Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis, the Pacific halibut, is a species of righteye flounder. This very large species of flatfish is native to the North Pacific and is fished by commercial fisheries, sport fishers, and subsistence fishers. The Pacific halibut is found on the continental shelf of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Fishing for the Pacific halibut is mostly concentrated in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, off the west coast of Canada. Small halibut catches are reported in coastal Washington, Oregon, and California. Pacific halibut is broken up into 10 regularity management areas. Halibut are demersal,
Fish anatomy and various processes which project from the centrum or arches. An arch extending from the top of the centrum is called a neural arch, while the hemal arch or chevron is found underneath the centrum in the caudal (tail) vertebrae of fish. The centrum of a fish is usually concave at each end (amphicoelous), which limits the motion of the fish. This can be contrasted with the centrum of a mammal, which is flat at each end (acoelous), shaped in a manner that can support and distribute compressive forces. The vertebrae of lobe-finned fishes consist of three discrete bony elements.