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FISH GUIDE · Sea

Lemon sole: identification, habitat and fishing guide

Microstomus kitt

A North Atlantic flatfish with a small mouth.

Catalogue names : Lemon sole. Forms and names may vary between habitats.

Editorial review : · This species guide is not permission to fish. Read the precautions below and check the current rules for your location before targeting a species. Some species or populations are protected.

Geographical distribution

Found in the Northeast Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay to the White Sea, and around Iceland according to FishBase.

  • Documented presence : Northeast Atlantic
  • Documented presence : Bay of Biscay
  • Documented presence : White Sea

Documented areas, not an exhaustive list. Presence in a region does not imply presence in every water body or permission to fish.

Distribution sources

Identification

An oval body, smooth mottled skin, a small head and small thick-lipped mouth; the lateral line is almost straight. Brownish colour alone does not distinguish flatfish.

Habitat

Northeastern Atlantic, often over stony bottoms. Havforskningsinstituttet also documents sand and coastal algal bottoms in Norway; this habitat description does not define a French fishing spot.

Diet

Small invertebrates, mainly polychaete worms.

Behaviour

A bottom-associated fish; no capture time of day is established here.

Havforskningsinstituttet describes rapid colour changes according to the seabed. Polychaetes dominate its diet, which alone does not prove a fishing method.

Fishing context and precautions

Asgeir Alvestad explicitly includes ‘lomre’, the Norwegian name for Microstomus kitt, in his running rig for flatfish. He works it on a slow drift by lifting and setting the rig down rather than dragging it over obstacles. His baits include cooked shrimp, mussel, mackerel and worms; this collective scope remains that of his Norwegian field account.

For an indicative adaptation in France, present a small bait on the seabed with a sinker suited to the current and prepare landing before lowering. Have the rig and drift adjusted locally; import neither foreign dimensions nor deliberate waiting for deep hooking. Williams already recommends small baits and small hooks; Appleby reports Stålcrona’s shrimp catch at 19 m near Andørja in 2004, and Proudfoot names worms and fish. This evidence does not guarantee effectiveness at every French site.

A distinctive feature

Its name evokes sole, but it belongs to the Pleuronectidae.

Sources and review

Each reference includes its access date. Overall editorial review: . Local conditions and regulations may change.

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