#2144 · 🐟 fish
Common Sole
🇳🇱 Tong ·Solea solea
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Xavier Rufray · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Pierre Corbrion · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 10. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The common sole , Dover sole , or black sole ( Solea solea ) is a species of flatfish in the Soleidae family. It is a flatfish living on the sandy or muddy seabed of the northern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea where it often semi-immerses itself in the substrate. The upper side is greyish-brown while the underside is white. It grows to a maximum length of about 70 cm (28 in). This fish is used for human consumption and is prized...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 7 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 346 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Common Sole
- Nederlands
- Tong
- scientific name
- Solea solea
- class
- Actinopterygii
- order
- Carangiformes
- family
- Soleidae
- IUCN Red List
- DD · data deficient
- sightings in NL
- 7
- sightings in Europe
- 167
- sightings worldwide
- 346
- GBIF records in NL
- 50,947
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: onvoldoende gegevens. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 55396, Wikidata Q27773, GBIF 5214139, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.