Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L .) are a cold-water fish. Despite this, their growth rate is inhibited by exposure to low-temperatures in regions of China where cultured fish are reared in natural sea water that is <8℃ from December to March. To counter this, farmers extract deep well seawater or use heated natural seawater for cultivation. The extraction of a large amount of groundwater can result in a serious decrease in the water table and subsequent water shortage. Heating water is not only a waste of energy, but also it causes air pollution. Additionally, the costs of turbot cultivation increase significantly during this period. Improvements in performance traits and breeding of rapid growth varieties under low temperature conditions are important for two reasons: a reduction in pollution and ground water use and an increase in profitability. We evaluated the growth performance and heritability of growth traits in fish held for different durations at a range of low-temperatures (10.5–12℃). We used a total of 536 turbots from 25 family groups, including 13 full-sib families and 5 half-sib family groups (with 3 families derived from a cross of one dam with two sires and 2 families derived from a cross of one dam with three sires). During the 90-day study period, we measured the body weight (BW) and body length (BL) of each individual on days 18, 54, and 90. We calculated the SGR (specific growth rate) to describe growth performance. A general animal model was used to estimate the heritability of BW and BL after 54 and 90 days, with the initial body weight or initial body length (day 18) as a covariate. The specific growth rates (SGR) during days 18–54 and 54–90 were (0.869±0.181)%/d and (1.039±0.185)%/d (P<0.01), respectively. The specific growth rate between 54–90 d was 15.6% higher than in the previous period. The growth rate of turbot improved significantly with time and growth performance differed among families (P<0.01, one-way ANOVA). Turbot were able to adapt to low-temperature and prolonged holding at low temperature promoted cultivation of cold-resistant turbot. The heritabilities for body weight at 54 and 90 days were 0.440±0.129 and 0.548±0.150 (P<0.01), respectively; and for body length were 0.301±0.108 and 0.494±0.142 (P<0.01, t-test), respectively. The heritabilities for body weight and body length at 90 days were significantly higher than at 54 days. Our results suggest that the environmental effect decreases as duration of exposure to low temperature increases and a genetic effect can yield an increase in the growth of turbot. The heritability of body weight and body length increased with the duration of exposure to low-temperature, and the heritability of body length was higher than that for body weight. Thus, body length has greater utility as a breeding trait than body weight.