Relevant synonyms Dollfusichthys sinus-arabici Dollfusichthys sinusarabici Misidentification None Meristic formula D, 99-101; A, 78-79; V, 3-4; LL, 54-60  photo : David Darom

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body flattened and elongated, both eyes on left side. Dorsal fin originating in front of eyes, very long, together with anal fin confluent with caudal fin. A single pelvic fin on midventral edge of the blind side confluent with anal fin. Pectoral fins absent. Snout rounded anteriorly, curved hook-like reaching the vertical of eyes. Mouth inferior and asymmetrical with small teeth present only on the blind side. Small eyes, very close together. Small scales, very fine ctenoid. A single straight lateral line on the eye side. color : eye side beige with several dark brown blotches on dorsal and anal fins, blind side white. size : common 7-15 cm (max. 20 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Symphurus spp.: mouth terminal. Soleidae and Pleuronectidae: eyes on the right side. Bothidae, Scophthalmidae and Citharidae: dorsal and anal fins do not confluent with caudal fin. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Feeds on benthic invertebrates. Eggs and larvae planktonic. habitat : benthic. Sandy substrate to depth of 25 m.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Israel, 1953. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Red Sea endemic. Mediterranean : recorded first in Israel (Ben-Tuvia, 1953) ; successive records from Turkey (Akyuz, 1957) and Egypt (El-Sayed, 1994). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Common. speculated reasons for success : unknown. MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS Caught in shallow water trawling. No commercial value due to its small size.

KEY REFERENCES Ben-Tuvia A., 1953. Mediterranean fishes of Israel. Bulletin of the Sea Fisheries Research Station, Haifa, 8: 1-40. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: March 2001 ©ciesm 2002