Solenette

The solenette is a tiny flatfish that lies flush against the sand, its speckled body almost invisible until it moves. It reaches up to 15 cm, though most measure around 8 cm.

Also known as: yellow sole, little sole, solenette, Buglossidium luteum

Several small soles share its shape, but the regular pattern of dark bands on every fifth or sixth fin ray is a reliable mark to check.

It has an oval, flattened body with both eyes on the right side of the head and a rounded snout with a slightly beak-like upper jaw. The upper side is yellowish or light brown, sometimes with darker blotches, and can shift shade to match the seabed. The dorsal and anal fins are sandy-coloured, with every fifth or sixth ray marked dark for most of its length.

It lives on sandy or muddy-sand bottoms, often half-buried, at depths from about 5 to 40 m, though it has been found as deep as 450 m. Its range covers the northeastern Atlantic from Iceland and Scotland southward, including the North Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

It feeds on small bottom-living animals such as crustaceans, worms, and small shellfish, with feeding activity picking up in summer and dropping off in winter. Spawning timing varies by area, generally between late winter and summer depending on location.

Harmless.

• 

  Cape Scaldfish

  Arnoglossus capensis

• 

  Common Sole

  Solea solea

• 

  European flounder

  Platichthys flesus

• 

  Flounder

  flounder

• 

  Hogchoker

  Trinectes maculatus

• 

  Leopard flounder

  Bothus pantherinus