''Dagetichthys lusitanicus'', commonly known as the Portuguese sole, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Little is known of the abundance or behaviour of this fish, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated its conservation status as being "

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

Description

The Portuguese sole grows to a

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

of about . The general shape is oval, tapering somewhat towards the tail. Like other flatfish, the body is flattened laterally and the fish lies on its side, with both eyes on the right side; the upper eye is slightly in front of the lower one. The dorsal fin starts from the edge of the head and has 79 to 83 soft rays. The anal fin has 57 to 67 soft rays and it and the dorsal fin are continuous with the caudal fin. The upper side of the fish is greyish-brown, with black blotches, arranged in indistinct longitudinal rows. The underside of the fish is whitish.

Distribution

The Portuguese sole is native to the tropical and sub-tropical eastern Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from Portugal to Angola. It is also present in the

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

Islands and

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

. It was first recorded in the Mediterranean Sea in the early 1960s along the coast of Spain and has since extended its range to Libyan waters.Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (Dagetichthys lusitanicus). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Dagetichthys_lusitanicus.pdf 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, living on, or just above, the

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

at depths down to about , on sandy and muddy substrates.

Status

Over most of its range, the Portuguese sole is caught by trawling by

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

al fishermen, and in some areas, by commercial trawling as well. It is not usually the target species, but is caught largely as

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

. There are no records of the quantities of fish taken, and the total population size of this fish is unknown, so the

has rated its conservation status as "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28745692 Soleidae Fish described in 1868 Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN