Common sole

Solea solea

A flat bottom fish of eastern Atlantic sand and mud. Both eyes lie on one side, and the fish rests camouflaged on the seabed.

Key facts

Common sole (Solea solea) is a carnivore animal classified as Fish · Pleuronectiformes · Soleidae.
Primary habitats are coast · open ocean, with a range across Atlantic Ocean · Palearctic.
Activity is nocturnal, sociality is solitary, and conservation status is LC (Least Concern).
A flat bottom fish of eastern Atlantic sand and mud.
Lives on shallow sandy and muddy bottoms in the North Sea, Mediterranean, and eastern Atlantic.

Habitat range map

Native rangeOccasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Lives on shallow sandy and muddy bottoms in the North Sea, Mediterranean, and eastern Atlantic. Juveniles use estuaries and sheltered shallows.

The body is oval and flattened, with both eyes on the right side. The upper surface is brown and finely mottled to match sediment.

It rests buried or flattened on the bottom by day, then moves at night to search for food.

It eats worms, small crustaceans, young bivalves, and other bottom invertebrates from soft sediments.

Adults release eggs into open water. Larvae hatch symmetrical, then one eye migrates as they settle into bottom life.

Known commercially as Dover sole, it is highly valued as seafood. Trawl fisheries are managed through stock assessments.