Petrale Sole, Eopsetta jordani
Petrale Sole, Eopsetta jordani. Fish caught from coastal waters off Juneau, Alaska, July 2014. Length: 18 cm (7.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
The Petrale Sole, Eopsetta jordani, is a flatfish that is a member of the Righteye Flounder or Pleuronectidae Family, that is also known as the Sole and in Mexico as platija petrale. Globally, there is two species in the genus Eopsetta, and only this fish is found in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The Petrale Sole has a oval-shaped, highly compressed body with a depth that is 40% to 44% of standard length. Dorsally they are a uniform light brown to dark brown; the ventral side is white to pale yellow in color. Their head is small with a pointed snout with eyes on the right side, with the top eye slightly behind the lower eye, and a large mouth that reaches the middle of the eyes that has two rows of small arrow shaped teeth on each side of the upper jaw. Their anal fin has 62 to 90 rays; their caudal fin is pointed in the center; their dorsal fin has 82 to 103 rays; their pectoral fins have 13 rays; and, their pelvic fins have 6 rays. They have 15 to 17 gill rakers on the lower. Their dorsal side is covered with smooth scales; their ventral size is smooth to the touch. Their lateral line is straight with a slight curve above the pectoral fin.
The Petrale Sole is a demersal species that is found over sandy and muddy bottom at depths up to 550 m (1,800 feet), in waters that range from 4oC (39oF) to 12oC (54oF). They reach a maximum of 70 cm (2 feet 4 inches) in length and 3.6 kg (7 lbs 15 oz) in weight with females being larger than males. Their juveniles feed on small invertebrates and the adults feed on small fish, crabs and shrimp. In turn, they are preyed upon by bocaccio, ratfish, steelhead and harbor seals. They are known to make long seasonal migrations moving in the spring to inshore waters and to deeper waters during winter. Reproduction occurs during the winter and early spring in historical locations. Each female releases between 400,000 and 1.2 million eggs once a year. The eggs are pelagic and hatch within ten days and the larvae are pelagic which eventually move to near shore estuarine nursery areas. With maturity they eventually more to deeper water environments. They have life spans of forty years. The Petrale Sole is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Petrale Sole is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited range being found only in the coastal waters off the Coronado Islands off of the northwest coast of Baja California.
The Petrale Sole, due to its wide body depth and pointed caudal fin, is not easily confused with any other species.
From a conservation perspective the Petrale Sole is currently considered to be of Least Concern, with stable, widely distributed populations. However, their populations went into serious decline in the 1980s and 1990s and they are currently heavily regulated in many parts of their range. Historically they have been considered to be an important commercial catch caught via bottom trawlers and an important commercial catch that are considered to be an exceptional food fish that command high prices. They are also caught by recreational anglers with larger ones caught from boats and smaller ones caught from piers. They date to 100,000 years ago.