Psettichthys melanostictus, Pacific sand sole : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

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Psettichthys melanostictus Girard, 1854

Pacific sand sole
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Psettichthys melanostictus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Psettichthys melanostictus (Pacific sand sole)
Psettichthys melanostictus
Picture by Archipelago Marine Research Ltd.

US America (contiguous states) territory information

Common names: Sand sole, West American sand sole
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: common (usually seen) | Ref: Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Ranges south to Redondo Beach, California (Ref. 2850, 6793). Also Ref. 6885, 11366, 27436.
National Checklist:
Territory Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Plie à points noirs, Sand sole, Sand sole, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes) > Pleuronectidae (Righteye flounders) > Pleuronectinae
Etymology: Psettichthys: Greek, psetta = grouper + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Girard.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 1 - 325 m (Ref. 6793). Temperate; 64°N - 33°N, 179°W - 118°W

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern and Western Pacific: The Bering Sea coast of Alaska, near the Aleutian Islands (Ref. 27436) to the West Bering Sea and to Redondo Beach, southern California, USA.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 63.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 72 - 88; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 53 - 66; Vertebrae: 37 - 39. Dorsal origin above point in front of eye. Caudal rounded. Pectorals small.
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits sandy bottoms. Feeds on fishes, worms, crustaceans and mollusks (Ref. 6885).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Amaoka, Kunio | Collaborators

Vinnikov, K.A., R.C. Thomson and T.A. Munroe, 2018. Revised classification of the righteye flounders (Teleostei: Pleuronectidae) based on multilocus phylogeny with complete taxon sampling. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 125:147-162. (Ref. 122998)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 17 September 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
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Predators
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Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
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References

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Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OceanAdapt | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |