Juvenile? flatfish/sole from lembeh

An old picture this (well only March 2004 - but that seems a very long time ago to me). But the need for ID came up in a picture submission recently. Anyone got an idea?

I don't think it is too rare - it is just not in any of the books I have at home. I think I put it down as Soleichthys? sp., which isn't much help!

Photographed in Lembeh. Not that rare as I have seen other people's lembeh galleries with these guys in too.

Alex

Hi Alex, I also can't identify it with the books that I have. Can I forward the picture to Tom Munroe? He is a friend of mine at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and is the world's leading authority on flatfish.

Luiz

Thanks Luiz. Makes me feel better to know that you don't know what it is either!

I am always worried about posting something here and everyone saying "Don't you know what that is?", "You get them everywhere!"

Alex

I think it's mimicking something, the pattern is quite bright

Randall just published a very useful and interesting review of mimicry in fishes where there is a picture of a brightly coloured sole apparently mimicking a flatworm, and I know at least one other case where a white-orange-black sole (juvenile ?) and a flatworm both mimic a nudibranch (latter type of mimicry is very common)

Art

actually I don't remember if it was a sole or a flatfish .. Soleidae and Pleuronectidae (and other families) are quite different, of course ..

brightly coloured (e.g., zebra-striped) soles are more common

A

Thanks for remembering that Art, that is a great review by Jack. The species that are in his paper are different, but they are brightly colored like the one in Alex's photo. Here is a link (warning!! 4.4mb) for a PDF of the review article for those interested in mimicry:

http://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/Journals/44.3/299.pdf

Luiz

There is something similar in Meyer's Micronesian FIsh book

He calls it, juvenile unidentified Sole...Soleidae

Helpful aren't i?

Thanks for posting the link - it is a great article. Even though I don't "do" fish I'm fascinated by mimicry.

good fish. Not in any of my books....

I saw one of those during a night dive in Puerto Galera a couple of years back. All the dive guide could tell me was: "It's a flounder".

Doesn't help much with identification, but enlarges its range a bit...

Mat

Hi Alex,

With the protruding thing at the end of the head, (actually I think I remember hearing that the nostrils are at the end ) it reminds me of a Unicorn sole: Aesopia cornuta. The yellow marks, however are a puzzle.

Marli

All the dive guide could tell me was: "It's a flounder". 

 

Mat

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Sounds like a smart dive guide. That's what I would have called it too.

We're all like that...

"What was that blue striped fish?"

"Oh, thats the blue striped wrasse..."

Hi Alex,

With the protruding thing at the end of the head, (actually I think I remember hearing that the nostrils are at the end  ) it reminds me of a Unicorn sole:  Aesopia cornuta.  The yellow marks, however are a puzzle.

Marli

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I think that the yellow markings are probably a juvenile/mimicry thing. So you may be onto something here, Marli. Thanks,

Alex

Hi Alex, here is the answer from Tom Munroe:

The sole in the photograph you sent is a member of the genus Soleichthys.  I am not sure of the species identification, it could be Soleichthys siammakuti described by Wongratana based on 2 specimens from the Gulf of Thailand.  It also may represent an undescribed species. 

 

I think this photograph, or one of a similarly pigmented individual, also appears in Rudie Kuiter's book on Indonesian reef fishes.  I asked Rudie if there were any vouchers of the specimen in the photo in his book and he informed that there were not.  Would be great to take a look at one of these to determine if it is siammakuti or something else (which I think a strong possibility).

 

Muchhala and Munroe (2004) described another dark-brown, yellow-white spotted Soleichthys from northern Australian waters that is different from siammakuti.  And it may be that there are more spotted species of Soleicththys around than are presently recognized.  Attached is black and white a photo of S. maculosus for comparison.  I also attached a pdf of recent paper describing other Soleichthys from Australian waters.

 

I just returned in Oct. from a museum trip to Australia where several other undescribed Soleichthys are present in collections, but none have the spotted pigmentation of the Indonesian specimen.  I still have more work to do on this genus and hope to turn out some more descriptions in the coming year.

So you were right, Soleichthys sp. it is. We should start to get specimens of these guys!

Here is the black and white photo of S. maculosus that he sent me.

Thanks Luiz. I'll look at the picture later.

Alex

We also shot this fish (two in the same photo) while staying at KBR this year. According to the book Indonesian Reef Fishes by Rudie Kuiter & Takamasa Tonozuka its a Yellow spotted Sole (Soleichthys sp1).