Author: [Risso] Bonaparte, 1833
Solea kleinii [Risso] Bonaparte, 1833
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Synapturichthys kleinii (Risso, 1827) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body oval. Upper eye less than its own diameter from dorsal profile of head. Anterior nostril on blind side enlarged, cupula-shaped, well separated from posterior nostril; anterior nostril on eyed side with a backward-pointing tube reaching front border of lower eye. Dorsal fin beginning on anterior profile of head, with 72-91 finrays; pectoral fin on eyed side with 7-10 finrays, on blind side equally developed; anal finrays 57-74; caudal fin broadly united by a membrane to last dorsal and anal finrays. Lateral line with 100-116 pored scales, the supratemporal branch forming a smoothly rounded curve. Vertebrae 42-48. Colour: eyed side light brown with dark markings and numerous white spots; pectoral fin on eyed side with a dark blotch from base of fin, with a white margin beyond it. Size: to 40 cm SL.
Habitat: benthic on sand and mud in shallow water, at depths of 20-120 m. Food: a wide range of small benthic invertebrates, mainly crustaceans (amphipods, crabs), polychaetes and molluscs (bivalves) and gastropods. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: eastern Atlantic (north-western coast of Africa) and Mediterranean (including Adriatic). Elsewhere, southward to South Africa.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Kyle, 1913: 125, pl. IV (fig. 38).
Otoliths (sagitta). Frost, 1930: 237, pl. 9 (fig. 23) | Chaine, 1936: 165, pl. 10.