The soles are flatfishes of various families. Narrowly speaking, they are the members of the family Soleidae, but, outside Europe, 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. The True Sole solea solea is sufficiently broadly distributed that it is not considered a threatened species; however, overfishing in Europe has produced severely diminished populations, with declining catches in many regions. For example, the western English Channel and Irish Sea sole fisheries face potential collapse according to data in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Families Suborder Psettodoidei     Psettodidae Suborder Pleuronectoidei     Citharidae     Scophthalmidae (turbots)     Bothidae (lefteye flounders)     Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders)     Paralichthyidae (large-tooth flounders)     Achiropsettidae (southern flounders)     Samaridae Suborder Soleoidei     Soleidae (soles)     Achiridae (American soles)     Cynoglossidae (tonguefishes) The flatfish are an order (Pleuronectiformes) of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a... Genera (22 genera) The soles are a family (Soleidae) of flatfishes found in both oceans and freshwater, feeding on small crustaceans and other invertebrates. ... Genera Acanthopsetta Ammotretis Atheresthes Azygopus Clidoderma Colistium Cleisthenes Clidoderma Colisteum Dexistes Embassichthys Eopsetta Errex Glyptocephalus - fluke Hippoglossoides Hippoglossus - halibut Hypsopsetta Isopsetta Lepidopsetta Limanda - mud dabs Liopsetta - eelback flounder Lyopsetta Marleyella Microstomus - smear dab Nematops Oncopterus Paralichthodes Parophrys Pelotretis Peltorhamphus Platichthys - starry flounder Pleuronectes - northern flounder, plaice Pleuronichthys Poecilopsetta Psammodiscus Psettichthys... × The Traffic Light colour convention, showing the concept of Harvest Control Rule (HCR), specifying when a rebuilding plan is mandatory in terms of precautionary and limit reference points for spawning biomass and fishing mortality rate. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: , the sleeve) is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... Relief map of the Irish Sea. ... Diademed Sifaka, an endangered primate of Madagascar Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) is a an internationally recognized programme addressing threatened species or habitats, which is designed to protect and restore biological systems. ...

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. (Davidson) Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. ... Binomial name Solea solea The common sole, Solea solea, is a species of fish in the Soleidae family. ...

The name 'sole' comes from its resemblance to a sandal, Latin solea. In other languages, it is named for the tongue, e.g. German Zunge, Spanish lenguado. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

The name 'sole' outside Europe presents a confusing picture. Davidson says:

In North America, the two names [sole and flounder] are applied in what seems like a haphazard manner across the whole range of flatfish.... So on seeing what we call a sole an American would be apt to describe it as a flounder. If served what we call a flounder he would probably wonder why it had been deprived of the more honorific title of sole. The situation is irremediable. (Davidson, 1972, p. 224)

Indeed, in North American restaurants, the name 'sole' is often used to name any small flatfish, especially when filleted.

Worldwide, members of several groups of flatfish are called 'soles'. A complete list can be found using Fishbase's search function. They include: Families Suborder Psettodoidei     Psettodidae Suborder Pleuronectoidei     Citharidae     Scophthalmidae (turbots)     Bothidae (lefteye flounders)     Pleuronectidae (righteye flounders)     Paralichthyidae (large-tooth flounders)     Achiropsettidae (southern flounders)     Samaridae Suborder Soleoidei     Soleidae (soles)     Achiridae (American soles)     Cynoglossidae (tonguefishes) The flatfish are an order (Pleuronectiformes) of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a...

• In the sole suborder Soleoidei:
  • The true soles Soleidae, including the common or Dover sole 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, including the lemon sole, the Pacific Dover sole, and the petrale sole.

Genera (22 genera) The soles are a family (Soleidae) of flatfishes found in both oceans and freshwater, feeding on small crustaceans and other invertebrates. ... Binomial name Solea solea The common sole, Solea solea, is a species of fish in the Soleidae family. ... Genera Many; see text The American soles are a family (Achiridae) of flatfish occurring in both freshwater and marine environments of the Americas. ... Genera Cynoglossus Paraplagusia Symphurus See text for species. ... Genera Acanthopsetta Ammotretis Atheresthes Azygopus Clidoderma Colistium Cleisthenes Clidoderma Colisteum Dexistes Embassichthys Eopsetta Errex Glyptocephalus - fluke Hippoglossoides Hippoglossus - halibut Hypsopsetta Isopsetta Lepidopsetta Limanda - mud dabs Liopsetta - eelback flounder Lyopsetta Marleyella Microstomus - smear dab Nematops Oncopterus Paralichthodes Parophrys Pelotretis Peltorhamphus Platichthys - starry flounder Pleuronectes - northern flounder, plaice Pleuronichthys Poecilopsetta Psammodiscus Psettichthys... Binomial name Microstomus kitt (Walbaum, 1879) The Lemon Sole (Microstomus kitt) is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae native to the seas around Northern Europe. ... Binomial name Microstomus pacificus (Lockington, 1879) Dover sole (Microstomus pacificus) is a Pacific flatfish of the flounder family which ranges from Baja California to the Bering Sea. ...

Threats

Sole, along with the other major bottom-feeding fish in the North Sea such as cod, monkfish, and plaice, is listed by the ICES 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. ^{[1] [2] [3]} According to the World Wildlife Fund in 2006, "of the nine sole stocks, seven are overfished with the status of the remaining two unknown." ^[4] The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... COD may refer to many different topics, including: Cash on delivery Completion of discharge, shipping College of DuPage, a public Junior College with campuses in the suburbs of Chicago Call of Duty (series), a series of computer games Canadian Oxford Dictionary Carrier onboard delivery Catastrophic optical damage, a failure mode... For the TV series character, see The Fast Show. ... Binomial name Pleuronectes platessa Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) are an abundant and commercially important flatfish occurring on the sandy bottoms of the European shelf. ... The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) was established in 1902 by eight northern European nations. ... Note: After losing a court case in 2002 on the use of the initials WWF, the organization previously known as the World Wrestling Federation has rebranded itself as World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE. WWF - The Conservation Organization was formerly known as World Wildlife Fund and Worldwide Fund for Nature. ...

References

1. ^ Clover, Charles. 2004. The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. Ebury Press, London. ISBN 0-09-189780-7
2. ^ Myers, Ransom A. and Worm, Boris. "Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities." Nature 423, 280-283 (15 May 2003).
3. ^ Dalton, Rex. 2006. "Save the big fish: Targeting of larger fish makes populations prone to collapse." Published online [1]
4. ^ "European plaice and sole." [2]

European Sole UK Sole Picture

Bibliography

• Alan Davidson, North Atlantic Seafood, 1979. ISBN 0-670-51524-8.
• Alan Davidson, Mediterranean Seafood, 1972. ISBN 1-58008-451-6.

Alan Eaton Davidson (March 30, 1924 - December 2, 2003) was a British diplomat and historian best known for his books on food and gastronomy. ... Alan Eaton Davidson (March 30, 1924 - December 2, 2003) was a British diplomat and historian best known for his books on food and gastronomy. ...

Pop Culture References

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The song "Filet of Sole" off the Dead Milkmen's first album "Big Lizard In My Backyard" is a bequethal their love of the flat fish(1985). Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...

External links

• European Sole picture and information