Sand sole explained

The sand sole (Pegusa lascaris) is a fish species in the family Soleidae. It is a marine, subtropical, demersal fish up to 40cm (20inches) long.

Widespread in the northeastern and southeastern Atlantic, to the Gulf of Guinea in the south, also in the Mediterranean Sea.^[1] Recorded in the Suez Canal.^[2] During a long time the soles from the Black Sea and Sea of Azov were erroneously identified as the Blackhand sole, which was considered as subspecies P. l. nasuta (now as a different species).^[3] The modern studies confirms the presence of the sand sole in this water basin.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Quéro, J.-C., M. Desoutter and F. Lagardère, 1986. Soleidae. p. 1308–1324. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 3.
2. Ben-Tuvia, A., 1990. A taxonomic reappraisal of the Atlanto-Mediterranean soles Solea solea, S. senegalensis and S. lascaris. J. Fish Biol. 36(6): 947–960.
3. Vasilyeva E.D. (2007) Fishes of the Black Sea, VNIRO, Moscow, 238 pp. (in Russian)
4. Movchan V.V. (2011) Fish of Ukraine, Zoloti Vorota, Kyiv, 444 pp. .