The butter sole (''Isopsetta isolepis'') is an edible

flatfish A flatfish is a member of the Ray-finned fish, ray-finned demersal fish order (biology), order Pleuronectiformes, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the ...

of the family

Pleuronectidae Pleuronectidae, also known as righteye flounders, are a family of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left sides, with both eyes on their right sides. The Paralichthyidae are the op ...

. It is a

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

fish that lives on soft, silty bottoms in temperate waters at depths between . Its native habitat is the northeastern Pacific, from the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...

and the Aleutian Islands, along the coasts of Alaska, Canada, and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

as far south as Ventura, California. It grows up to in length, and can live for up to 11 years.

Description

The butter sole is a right-eyed flounder with an oval-shaped body. Its upper side is light to dark or greyish brown, with yellow or green mottling; its underside is white. The scales on the upper side are rough. The dorsal and

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

s have bright yellow edges; the caudal fin is rounded and forms a broad V shape. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

curves slightly around the pectoral fin. The mouth is small, with blunt teeth that are stronger on the underside. The eyes are small, and close together.

Diet

The butter sole's diet consists of

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

organisms such as crabs,

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

, worms, and sand dollars, as well as young

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

References

butter sole The butter sole (''Isopsetta isolepis'') is an edible flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish that lives on soft, silty bottoms in temperate waters at depths between . Its native habitat is the northeastern Pacific, from the ...

Fish of the North Pacific Western North American coastal fauna

{{Pleuronectiformes-stub