Solenette

The solenette or yellow sole, Buglossidium luteum, is a species of flatfish in the family Soleidae, and the only member of its genus.

It is characterized by its small size, low-slung semi-circular mouth, and regularly placed dark fin rays.

A common and widespread species, it is native to sandy bottoms in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

[4][7] The lateral line scales number 55–70, and are rectangular in shape with short, strongly curved intercanalicular striae.

The coloration of the eyed side is variable, frequently yellowish or light brown with or without darker blotches or spots.

[3] Adult solenette feed on a variety of small benthic organisms, mainly crustaceans (copepods, amphipods, and cumaceans), bivalve molluscs, and polychaete worms.

In appearance the larvae are similar to those of the common sole, but with fewer large stellate chromatophores.

It is caught as bycatch in trawls, sometimes in large numbers, and historically has often been confused with the young of the common sole.