A Common sole (Solea solea Linnaeus, 1758): Actinopterygii: Pleuronectiformes: Soleidae caught in the Coastal Zone of Lithuania

Abstract

A specimen of common sole (Solea solea) was caught in the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea (ICES fishing subdivision 26) on 6 October 2007. It is the first documented report on this fish species from the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea. The fish had presumably strayed there from waters of higher salinity. It was caught during the hydrological autumn before the disappearance of the seasonal thermocline. The total body length of the specimen was 29 cm, and weight 290 g. It was a 2.5–3 year-old female with its gonads in the second stage of maturity. Parasitic helminths detected in its intestine were typical of brackish-water fish of the southeastern Baltic Sea: three immature specimens of acanthocephalans (Pomphorhynchus laevis Zoega (Muller, 1776)) and larvae L3 of roundworms (Hysterothylacium Aduncum Rudolphi, 1809). No remains of nutritive organisms were found in the stomach and intestine. From a biological viewpoint, it was a specimen that strayed into waters of low salinity beyond the species rep...