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Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes) >
Soleidae (Soles)
Etymology: Microchirus: Greek, mikros = small + Greek, cheir = hand (Ref. 45335).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; depth range 20 - 250 m (Ref. 4710). Temperate; 53°N - 12°N, 18°W - 36°E
Eastern Atlantic: Portugal southward to Senegal; a single record from southwest of the British Isles; Mediterranean: Spain, Algeria and Turkey.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 40.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4710)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 71 - 86; Anal soft rays: 58 - 68; Vertebrae: 40 - 43. Body oval; upper eye less than its own diameter from dorsal profile of head; anterior nostril on blind side not enlarged; anterior nostril on eyed side with a backward-pointing tube hardly reaching to front border of lower eye; dorsal fin beginning near vertical through front border of upper eye; pectoral fin on eyed side with 6-8 fin rays, on blind side shorter; caudal fin separate from last dorsal and anal fin rays; lateral line supra-temporal branch forming an angular S-shape, the ascending part running upward and backward (Ref. 4710).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep.
Found on mud and sand of the continental shelf, from the shore down to 250 m (Ref. 4710). Feeds on small benthic invertebrates, mainly amphipods and polychaetes (Ref. 4710). Minimum depth range from Ref. 121791.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Desoutter, M., 1994. Révision des genres Microchirus, Dicologlossa et Vanstraelenia (Pleuronectiformes, Soleidae). Cybium 18(3):215-249. (Ref. 35940)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
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