View source for Sole (fish)

{{Short description|Fish name belonging to several families}}
[[File:Solea solea 1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The [[common sole]] (or Dover sole) is a species of marine flatfish widely found around the coasts of Europe]]
[[File:Lined sole.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The [[American sole]]s are a family of flatfish found in both freshwater and marine environments of the Americas]]

'''Sole''' is a [[fish]] belonging to several families. Generally speaking, they are  members of the family [[Soleidae]], but, outside Europe, the name ''sole'' is also applied to various other similar [[flatfish]], especially other members of the sole suborder Soleoidei as well as members of the [[Pleuronectidae|flounder family]]. In European cookery, there are several species which may be considered ''true soles'', but the common or Dover sole ''[[Solea solea]]'', often simply called ''the sole'', is the most esteemed and most widely available.<ref>Davidson, 1979.</ref>

==Etymology of the word==
The word ''sole'' in English, French, and Italian comes from its resemblance to a sandal, Latin {{wikt-lang|la|solea}}.<ref>Sole, in Skeat WM. A concise etymological dictionary of the English language.  Harper & Brothers, 1896,  P. 449 [https://books.google.com/books?id=HKsVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA449 read online or download]</ref><ref>Sogliola (IT) [http://www.etimo.it/?term=sogliola etymology from www.etimo.it]</ref> In other languages, it is named for the tongue, e.g. Greek {{Transliteration|el|glóssa}} ({{wikt-lang|el|γλώσσα}}), German {{wikt-lang|de|Seezunge}}, Dutch {{wikt-lang|nl|zeetong}} or {{wikt-lang|nl|tong}} or the smaller and popular {{Wikt-lang|nl|sliptong}} (young sole), Hungarian {{wikt-lang|hu|nyelvhal}}, Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|lenguado}}, Cantonese {{Transliteration|zh|lung lei}} ({{wikt-lang|zh|龍脷}}, 'dragon tongue'), Arabic {{Transliteration|ar|lisan Ath-thawr}} ({{wikt-lang|ar|لسان الثور}}) (for the common sole) meaning 'the tongue of ox' in Qosbawi accent, Turkish {{wikt-lang|tr|dil}}.

A partial list of common names for species referred to as sole include:

*In the ''sole'' suborder Soleoidei:
** The ''[[true sole]]s'', [[Soleidae]], including the [[common sole|common or Dover sole]], ''Solea solea''.  These are the only fishes called ''soles'' in Europe.<!-- all have names of the form 'XXX sole' -->
** The ''[[American sole]]s'', [[Achiridae]], sometimes classified among the Soleidae.<!-- most have names of the form ''XXX sole'' -->
** The ''[[tonguefish]]es'' or ''tongue soles'', [[Cynoglossidae]], whose common names usually include the word 'tongue'.<!-- most have names of the form 'XXX tongue sole' -->
* Several species of righteye flounder in the family [[Pleuronectidae]], including the [[lemon sole]], the [[Microstomus pacificus|Pacific Dover sole]], and the [[petrale sole]].

==Threats==
The true sole, ''Solea solea'', is sufficiently distributed that it is not considered a threatened  [[species]]; however, [[overfishing]] in Europe has produced severely diminished populations, with declining catches in many regions.  For example, the western [[English Channel]] and [[Irish Sea]] sole fisheries face potential collapse according to data in the UK [[Biodiversity Action Plan]].

Sole, along with the other major bottom-feeding fish in the [[North Sea]] such as [[cod]], [[monkfish]], and [[plaice]], is listed by the [[International Council for the Exploration of the Sea|ICES]] as "outside safe biological limits." Moreover, they are growing less quickly now and are rarely older than six years, although they can reach forty. World stocks of large predatory fish and large ground fish such as sole and [[flounder]] were estimated in 2003 to be only about 10% of pre-industrial levels.<ref>Clover, Charles. 2004. ''The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat''. Ebury Press, London. {{ISBN|0-09-189780-7}}</ref><ref>Myers, Ransom A. and Worm, Boris. "Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities." ''Nature'' '''423''', 280–283 (15 May 2003).</ref><ref>Dalton, Rex. 2006. "Save the big fish: Targeting of larger fish makes populations prone to collapse." Published online [http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061016/full/061016-8.html]</ref> According to the [[World Wildlife Fund]] in 2006, "of the nine sole stocks, seven are overfished with the status of the remaining two unknown."

In 2010, [[Greenpeace International]] has added the [[common sole]] to its seafood red list, as they are  primarily caught by beam trawlers, which have a very high bycatch rate. The Greenpeace International seafood red list is a list of fish that are commonly sold in [[supermarkets]] around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries.<ref>[https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/sustainable-seafood/red-list-fish/ Greenpeace International Seafood Red list]</ref>{{Failed verification|date=June 2025}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[[Alan Davidson (food writer)|Alan Davidson]], ''North Atlantic Seafood'', 1979. {{ISBN|0-670-51524-8}}.
*[[Alan Davidson (food writer)|Alan Davidson]], ''Mediterranean Seafood'', 1972. {{ISBN|1-58008-451-6}}.

==External links==
* {{YouTube|yutM30Zd3lA|Video of a fresh water sole}}

{{flatfish|state=expanded}}
{{commercial fish topics}}

[[Category:Fish of Europe]]
[[Category:Commercial fish]]
[[Category:Fish common names]]