Family SOLEIDAE

Soleidae

© Copyright Ros Poole.

Zebrias cracitula

© Copyright A.R. McCulloch 1916

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Introduction

Members of the Soleidae, or soles, occur in tropical and temperate regions of the Indo-Pacific and Europe. They are replaced by the related Achiridae in the New World. Currently, around 35 genera and 120 species are recognised (Nelson 2006), with 15 genera and 51 species recorded from Australia. The species names presented here are tentative and are likely to change as revisionary work is completed.

Soleids are distinctive in having eyes on the right side of the head and the preopercular edge covered by skin. They are found on soft bottoms in a variety of habitats from fresh water out to the continental slope to depths of 400 m in Australia. The maximum size is 25 cm in length.

The family is in need of revision. However, the classification used here reflects the current literature as far as possible. One difficulty is that there is no accepted generic classification of the group. An additional complication is the fact that Euryglossa, one of the genera most commonly used for species in the family, is preoccupied in Insecta and not available (Eschmeyer 1998). Some authors have combined the genus with Synaptura. However, Desoutter et al. (2001) established the validity of Brachirus Swainson, 1839 as the senior available synonym for most soleid taxa previously recognised in Euryglossa. This finding also rendered Synaptura a junior objective synonym of Brachirus. However, because this generic name has long-standing consistent usage for four species of soleid flatfishes (none recorded from Australia) forming a monophyletic group within the family, Desoutter et al. (2001) recommended retention of Synaptura and its restriction as a generic name for these four species.

Clark & George (1979) revised the genus Pardachirus and some tropical species are treated in Munroe (2001). A more recent revision of Pardachirus was conducted by Randall & Johnson 2007. Australian temperate species are dealt with in Gomon (1994).

General References

Clark, E. & George, A. 1979. Toxic soles, Pardachirus marmoratus from the Red Sea and P. pavoninus from Japan, with notes on other species. Environmental Biology of Fishes 4(2): 103-123 figs 1-13

Desoutter, M., Munroe, T.A., Chapleau, F. 2001. Nomenclatural status of Brachirus Swainson, Synaptura Cantor and Euryglossa Kaup (Soleidae, Pleuronectiformes). Ichthyological Research 48: 325-327

Eschmeyer, W.N. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. San Francisco : California Academy of Sciences 2905 pp., 3 vols.

Gomon, M.F. 1994. Family Soleidae. pp. 860-865, figs 761-763 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.

Gomon, M.F. 2008. Family Soleidae. pp. 817-821 in Gomon, M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp. [817]

Hoese, D.F. & Bray, D.J. 2006. Soleidae. pp. 1841-1852 in Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & Allen, G.R. Fishes. In, Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 35. Volume 35 Australia : ABRS & CSIRO Publishing Parts 1-3, 2178 pp. [1841]

McCulloch, A.R. 1916. Ichthyological items. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 5: 58-69 figs 1-4 pls 7-9 [pl. 9 (fig. 1)]

Munroe, T.A. 2001. Soleidae, Cynoglossidae. pp. 3878-3901 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.

Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the World. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 601 pp.

Randall, J.E. & Johnson, J.W. 2007. Revision of the soleid fish genus Pardachirus. Indo-Pacific Fishes 39: 1-22

Common Name References

Merrick, J.R. & Schmida, G.E. 1984. Australian Freshwater Fishes Biology and Management. Sydney : J.R. Merrick 409 pp. figs 280 col. figs. [318] (Soles)

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