Soles are the common names for the members of the Soleidae family. The family members have both eyes on the right side of their head and margin of preoperculum completely covered by skin and scales. There is no spine in their fins and their dorsal fin extends far forward on head. Their dorsal and anal fins may be attached or not attached to caudal fin where they sometimes might look like flounders.
Members of the Soleidae are found in the Eastern Atlantic, Indian and Pacific waters. There are 32 genera and 174 species worldwide. They commonly inhabit shallow marine waters on mud and sand bottoms. Some species occur in brackish waters near river mouth but they are rarely found in freshwater. They feed mostly on small crustaceans and other bottom-living animals.
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Scientific Name: Brachirus orientalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) English Name: Oriental Sole Mandarin Name: 箬鳎 (Ruò tǎ), 右口鱼 (Yòu kǒu yú) Local Malay Name: Ikan Lidah. Lidah-bronok Timur Main Diagnostic Features: Eyed side grey or brown with numerous, cloudy,and indistinct patches. Blind side uniformly light yellow, without sooty blotches. Eyed-side pectoral fin darkly pigmented with black blotch near distal tip and with white margin. Size: Maximum total length about 38 cm, commonly 10 to 12 cm.   Scientific Name: Synaptura commersonnii (Lacepède, 1802) English Name: Commerson's sole Mandarin Name: 舌鰨 (Shé tǎ), 右口鱼 (Yòu kǒu yú) Local Malay Name: Ikan Lidah. Lidah Lumpur Local Teochew: Leng Chik Main Diagnostic Features: Eyes on right side. Dorsal and anal fins joined to caudal fin. Dorsal, anal, and caudal fins dusky towards edges of both sides and with a conspicuous white margin. Right pectoral fin dusky. Size: Maximum total length about 32 cm, commonly 20 to 30 cm.   |