Senegalese sole

General

Flatfish

Flatfish belong to the order Pleuronectoformes. There are more than 500 species of flatfish. Flatfish live on and partly in the seabed, only the halibut swims higher up in the water column. Flatfish have an oblong, flat shape and their eyes on one side. The upper-side, the eye-side, of the flatfish has a camouflage colour and the underside is white. It may seem like flatfish swim on their belly, however, in fact, they are laying on their side. Flatfish larvae have a regular fish shape, with eyes on each side and a vertical swimming mode. After 6 weeks, one of the eyes migrates upwards, over the head to the other side. From now own, the flatfish swims with their eyes up and their blind side facing the seabed.

The best known flatfish species in the Netherlands are sole and plaice. Other flatfish species that occur in the North Sea are the common dab, halibut, turbot, brill, European flounder and lemon sole. Flatfish are caught with beam trawls, pulse trawls or demersal otter trawls.

Senegalese sole

The Senegalese sole is a marine flatfish that inhabits sandy and muddy bottoms in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from the Bay of Biscay till Senegal. It can reach up to 60 cm. Solea senegalensis is very similar to the common sole. It has a flattened, oval body with the dorsal fin starting on the upper profile of the head to the front of the upper eye. It is greyish brown in colour on the eyed side marked with numerous blue spots, the spots tend to disappear in dead specimens. The pectoral fin on the eyed side has a nearly black membrane contrasting with cream coloured fin rays while the caudal fin is plain. The blind side it whitish. Its diet consists of shellfish, shrimp, crabs and fish.