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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrata > fishes > Order Pleuronectiformes |
| Soles Family Soleidae updated Mar 11
Where seen? Some of these flatfishes really do look like the sole of a shoe! Others have pretty patterns. They are often seen on our Northern shores, sometimes also on our Southern shores. Usually in sandy areas near seagrass meadows. What are soles? Soles are flatfishes that belong to the Family Soleidae. According to FishBase: the family has 22 genera and 89 species. They are found mainly from Europe to Australia and Japan. The Latin 'solea' means 'sandal'. Features: 10-30cm. Eyes small and on the right side. The head is small. In some species, the tail fin separate from the dorsal and anal fins. In others, such as Commerson's sole (Synaptura commersoniana), the tail fins are joined to the dorsal and anal fins. The fins lack spines. Snout sometimes hook-shaped. Scales relatively large and sometimes modified into skin flaps fringed with sensory filaments. Colours on the eyed side highly variable depending on the surroundings. May be uniformly brown to patterned with scattered dark spots or blotches. Some soles such as the Peacock sole (Pardachirus pavoninus) have toxin glands that produce a distasteful substance. The Moses sole (Pardachirus mamoratus) found in the Red Sea produces an astringent, frothy, soap-like poison, called pardaxin, that was found to repel sharks. However, the toxin proved difficult to package and store and could not be used to protect humans. |
 Small eyes on the right side.  Eating a worm! |
May be quite large, although small ones are also seen.| Sometimes
confused with other flatfishes.
Here's more on how
to tell apart the flatfish families commonly seen. What do they eat? Soles hunt small animals that live on the bottom of the sea including other fishes. Some species have tentacles around the mouth on the blind side. Teeth only on the blind side of the mouth, on both jaws. Human uses: Some species are economically very important and are harvested for the food trade. Status and threats: Our solefishes are not listed among the threatened animals of Singapore. But like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. Over-fishing can also have an impact on local populations. |
 Underside of a sole in a tank. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Jul 04 |
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Soles on Singapore shores
| Family
Soleidae recorded for Singapore from Wee Y.C. and Peter K. L. Ng. 1994. A First Look at Biodiversity in Singapore. *Lim, Kelvin K. P. & Jeffrey K. Y. Low, 1998. A Guide to the Common Marine Fishes of Singapore.
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Links
References
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Periplus Editions. 292 pp.|
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