All Topics  
Sole (fish)

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Sole (fish)
 
 
  Topics Sole (fish) Topic Home

Sole is a type of flatfish
Flatfish

The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. The name means "side-swimmers" in Greek language....
 of varying families. Generally speaking, they are the members of the family Soleidae
Soleidae

The true soles are a family, Soleidae, of flatfishes, and include species that live in Seawater and fresh water. They are bottom-dwelling fishes feeding on small crustaceans and other invertebrates....
, but, outside Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, the name 'sole' is also applied to various other similar flatfish, especially other members of the sole suborder Soleoidei as well as members of the flounder family
Pleuronectidae

Righteye flounders are a family, Pleuronectidae, of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left side, with both eyes on the right side....
. In European cookery, there are several species which may be considered 'true' soles, but the common or Dover sole Solea solea, often simply called the 'sole', is the most esteemed and most widely available.

The name 'sole' comes from its resemblance to a sandal, Latin solea.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Sole (fish)'
Start a new discussion about 'Sole (fish)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Sole is a type of flatfish
Flatfish

The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. The name means "side-swimmers" in Greek language....
 of varying families. Generally speaking, they are the members of the family Soleidae
Soleidae

The true soles are a family, Soleidae, of flatfishes, and include species that live in Seawater and fresh water. They are bottom-dwelling fishes feeding on small crustaceans and other invertebrates....
, but, outside Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, the name 'sole' is also applied to various other similar flatfish, especially other members of the sole suborder Soleoidei as well as members of the flounder family
Pleuronectidae

Righteye flounders are a family, Pleuronectidae, of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left side, with both eyes on the right side....
. In European cookery, there are several species which may be considered 'true' soles, but the common or Dover sole Solea solea, often simply called the 'sole', is the most esteemed and most widely available.

The name 'sole' comes from its resemblance to a sandal, Latin solea. In other languages, it is named for the tongue
Tongue

The tongue is skeletal muscle on the floor of the mouth that manipulates food for chewing . It is the primary organ of taste. Much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds....
, e.g. German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 Zunge, Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
 lenguado.

Worldwide, members of several groups of flatfish
Flatfish

The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. The name means "side-swimmers" in Greek language....
 are called 'soles'. A complete list can be found using . They include:
  • In the sole suborder Soleoidei:
    • The true soles Soleidae
      Soleidae

      The true soles are a family, Soleidae, of flatfishes, and include species that live in Seawater and fresh water. They are bottom-dwelling fishes feeding on small crustaceans and other invertebrates....
      , including the common or Dover sole
      Common sole

      The common sole or Dover sole, Solea solea, is a species of fish in the Soleidae family.It has a preference for relatively shallow water with sand or mud covering the bottom....
       Solea solea. These are the only fishes called 'soles' in Europe.
    • The American soles Achiridae, sometimes classified among the Soleidae.
    • The tongue soles or tonguesoles Cynoglossidae, whose common names usually include the word 'tongue'.
  • Several species of righteye flounder in the family Pleuronectidae
    Pleuronectidae

    Righteye flounders are a family, Pleuronectidae, of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left side, with both eyes on the right side....
    , including the lemon sole
    Lemon sole

    The lemon sole, Microstomus kitt, is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is native to shallow seas around Northern Europe, where it lives on stony bottoms down to about 200 m....
    , the Pacific Dover sole
    Microstomus pacificus

    Dover sole, Microstomus pacificus, is a Pacific Ocean flatfish of the Pleuronectidae which ranges from Baja California to the Bering Sea. It takes its name from a resemblance to the solea solea of Europe, which is often called a 'Dover sole'....
    , and the petrale sole.


Threats


The True Sole solea solea is sufficiently broadly distributed that it is not considered a threatened species; however, overfishing
Overfishing

Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....
 in Europe has produced severely diminished populations, with declining catches in many regions. For example, the western English Channel
English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
 and Irish Sea
Irish Sea

The Irish Sea also known as the Mann Sea or Manx Sea, separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea portion of the Atlantic Ocean by St George's Channel between Republic of Ireland and Wales, and to the north by the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland which forms part of...
 sole fisheries face potential collapse according to data in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan
Biodiversity Action Plan

This article is about a conservation biology topic. For other uses of BAP, see BAP .A 'Biodiversity Action Plan' is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems....
.

Sole, along with the other major bottom-feeding fish in the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
 such as cod
Cod

Cod is the common name for the genus of fish Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name of a variety of other fishes....
, monkfish
Monkfish

Monkfish is the English name of a number of types of fish in the northwest Atlantic, most notably the species of the anglerfish genus Lophius and the angelshark genus Squatina....
, and plaice
Plaice

Plaice is the common name of four species of flatfishes:* Alaska plaice, Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus* American plaice, Hippoglossoides platessoides...
, is listed by the ICES
Ices

Ices may refer to:*Ices or frozen desserts, particularly within the United Kingdom*Ices or frozen volatiles in the context of astronomy and planetary science...
 as "outside safe biological limits." Moreover, they are growing less quickly now and are rarely older than six years, although they can reach forty. World stocks of large predatory fish and large ground fish such as sole and flounder were estimated in 2003 to be only about 10% of pre-industrial levels. According to the World Wildlife Fund in 2006, "of the nine sole stocks, seven are overfished with the status of the remaining two unknown."

See also

  • Common Sole
    Common sole

    The common sole or Dover sole, Solea solea, is a species of fish in the Soleidae family.It has a preference for relatively shallow water with sand or mud covering the bottom....


Bibliography


  • Alan Davidson
    Alan Davidson (food writer)

    Alan Eaton Davidson was a United Kingdom diplomat and historian best known for his writing and editing on food and gastronomy. He was the author of the 900-page, encyclopedic Oxford Companion to Food ....
    , North Atlantic Seafood, 1979. ISBN 0-670-51524-8.
  • Alan Davidson
    Alan Davidson (food writer)

    Alan Eaton Davidson was a United Kingdom diplomat and historian best known for his writing and editing on food and gastronomy. He was the author of the 900-page, encyclopedic Oxford Companion to Food ....
    , Mediterranean Seafood, 1972. ISBN 1-58008-451-6.


External links