Common sole
Solea solea (Linnaeus, 1758)
The common sole (Solea solea) is a bony fish in the family Soleidae, within the order Pleuronectiformes. It is also called Sole, Slip, Tounge, True Soul and Dover sole.
Quick facts about the common sole
In its global assessment, the common sole is listed on the IUCN Red List as Data Deficient (DD).
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- up to 70 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 26 years
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Age at maturity
- 3 years – 5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Conservation status
- Data Deficient (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the common sole
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the common sole live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common sole as introduced in 1 country.
Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).
What is the common sole?
The common sole, Dover sole, or black sole (Solea solea) is a species of flatfish in the family Soleidae. It is one of the largest fish in the Solea genus. It lives on the sandy or muddy seabed of the northern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea where it often partially 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). The species is prized as a food fish, being caught mostly by bottom trawling on the seabed.
The name "Dover" comes from Dover, the English fishing port landing the most sole in the 19th century.
From the Wikipedia article “Common sole” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_sole&oldid=1313870591), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the common sole endangered?
The common sole is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List: it has too little data for its risk to be assessed.
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Data Deficient species. What the categories mean.
How is the common sole classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderPleuronectiformes
- familySoleidae
- genusSolea
- SpeciesSolea solea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Pleuronectes solea, Solea vulgaris, Solea vulgaris typica, Solea vulgaris vulgaris
Other names and names in other languages (76)
- Black soleEnglish
- Dover soleEnglish
- Parkgate soleEnglish
- River soleEnglish
- Sea partridgeEnglish
- SlipEnglish
- SoleEnglish
- Southport soleEnglish
- ToungeEnglish
- True SoulEnglish
- سمكة موسىArabic
- LenguauAragonese
- Dəniz diliAzerbaijani
- garlizenBreton
- GarlizennBreton
- palaiaCatalan
- llenguadoCatalan
- jazyk obecnýCzech
- lleden chwithigWelsh
- Lledod ChwithigWelsh
- tungeDanish
- Almindelig tungeDanish
- søtungeDanish
- ZungeGerman
- SeezungeGerman
- ΓλώσσαGreek
- SoleoEsperanto
- LenguaSpanish
- lenguadoSpanish
- Lenguado ComúnSpanish
- Lenguado europeoSpanish
- LenguaoSpanish
- mihi-arrainBasque
- merianturaFinnish
- kielikampalaFinnish
- kielikampelaFinnish
- soleFrench
- sole communeFrench
- linguado comúnGalician
- סולית מצויהHebrew
- ListCroatian
- közönséges nyelvhalHungarian
- Solea soleaItalian
- sogliola comuneItalian
- ホンササウシノシタJapanese
- നങ്ക്Malayalam
- tungeNorwegian Bokmål
- tungeflyndreNorwegian Bokmål
- SeetungLow German
- tongDutch
- gewone tongDutch
- zeetongDutch
- tungeNorwegian Nynorsk
- sjøtungeNorwegian Nynorsk
- skosåleNorwegian Nynorsk
- tungeNorwegian
- solaPolish
- podeszwicaPolish
- sola zwyczajnaPolish
- linguadoPortuguese
- Linguado-legítimoPortuguese
- morskoi yazykRussian
- Европейская солеяRussian
- Европейский морской языкRussian
- morski listSlovenian
- gjuhëza e detitAlbanian
- gjuhëza e kanalitAlbanian
- gjuhëza e zakonshmeAlbanian
- ЛистSerbian
- tungaSwedish
- DilTurkish
- Bayağı dil balığıTurkish
- dil baligiTurkish
- Солія звичайнаUkrainian
- Європейська соліяUkrainian
- Морський язик звичайнийUkrainian
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the common sole
Other species in the same genus Solea.
Senegal sole
Solea senegalensis
Egyptian sole
Solea aegyptiaca
Ovate sole
Solea ovata
Elongate sole
Solea elongata
Stanaland's sole
Solea stanalandi
CompareCommon sole vs Senegal soleCommon sole vs Egyptian soleCommon sole vs Ovate soleCommon sole vs Solea capensis
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the common sole?
The common sole is a bony fish. It belongs to the family Soleidae in the order Pleuronectiformes.
What is the scientific name of the common sole?
The scientific name of the common sole is Solea solea, in the genus Solea.
Who named the common sole and when?
The scientific name authority for Solea solea is (Linnaeus, 1758).
Is the common sole endangered?
The common sole is listed as Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List in its global assessment.
What other names does the common sole have?
Other English names for the common sole are Sole, Slip, Tounge, True Soul and Dover sole.
What family does the common sole belong to?
The common sole belongs to the family Soleidae, in the suborder Pleuronectoidei and the class Teleostei.
Is the common sole an invasive species?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common sole as introduced in 1 country: China, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common sole (Solea solea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-sole
“Common sole (Solea solea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-sole.
@misc{common_sole_2026,
title = {Common sole (Solea solea)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-sole},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}