Petrale sole
Eopsetta jordani
Petrale sole has a flattened body with a pale, pinkish-brown coloration and dark mottling, equipped with a long dorsal fin and a small mouth.
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About the Petrale sole
A right-eyed flatfish from the Pacific coast, this guy lies buried in sand and snaps up crabs, shrimp, and small fish that wander too close. It gets big and comes from cold, temperate saltwater, so it is really a public-aquarium sort of fish rather than a home tank pick.
Also known as
Quick Facts
Size
28 inches (70 cm)
Temperament
Semi-aggressive
Difficulty
Expert
Min Tank Size
300 gallons
Lifespan
10-17 years (up to 35 years)
Origin
Northeast Pacific - Alaska to Baja California
Diet
Carnivore - shrimp, crabs, other crustaceans, and small fishes; will take meaty marine foods
Water Parameters
2-10°C
8-8.4
8-12 dGH
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This species needs 2-10°C in a 300 gallon tank. Use our heater calculator to find the right wattage.
Calculate heater sizeCare Notes
- Give it a huge coldwater setup - think 8x3 ft footprint, 300+ gal, with a tight lid. Fine sand 3-4 in deep to bury, minimal sharp rock, dim lights, and a chiller holding 48-55 F.
- Keep salinity 1.024-1.026, pH 8.0-8.3, ammonia/nitrite 0, nitrate under 20 ppm. Aim for strong aeration and a steady bottom current, and guard all pump intakes so it does not get sucked in while burying.
- Start with live foods if needed, then switch to thawed marine fish, squid, or shrimp on tongs placed right in front of the snout at dusk. Adults eat 2-4 times per week until the belly just lifts; soak foods with a HUFA/vitamin mix to avoid deficiencies.
- Assume anything that fits in its mouth is food, including crabs and small fish. Best kept solo or with very large, mellow coldwater fish; skip urchins and anemones that can poke or sting its skin.
- It spends most of the day buried - that is normal - but watch for refusal to bury or rapid gilling, which usually means temps creeping up or low oxygen. Keep the room cool and have a backup for the chiller and power in summer.
- Wild-caught flatfish carry flukes and external parasites, so quarantine on sand and treat proactively; avoid blanket copper use unless you can test precisely. Skin abrasions turn septic fast on these guys, so keep substrate fine and handle with a container, not a net.
- Pick a smaller specimen under 12 in; big trawl-caught adults often never adapt to dead foods. Buy one that reacts to movement and is not blotchy or frayed along the edges.
- Do not plan on breeding - they are broadcast spawners with pelagic larvae and seasonal cues you cannot replicate at home.
Compatibility
Good Tankmates
- Big, fast midwater fish that are too large to swallow - think adult surfperch or jacksmelt that cruise well above the sand
- Size-matched, mellow rockfish that stay off the bottom and do not nip
- Adult kelp greenlings or similar temperate swimmers that work the rockwork and leave the sand bed alone
- Another flatfish of similar size in a very large, chilled tank with deep sand and line-of-sight breaks (watch them at first)
- Bold, pellet-trained open-water fish that eat midwater so the sole can grab food off the bottom without getting bullied
Avoid
- Anything bite-sized or bottom-hugging - gobies, juvenile perch, small sculpins - they will get inhaled after lights out
- Nippy pickers that target eyes and fins - triggers or feisty perch types that never stop pecking
- Big bruisers that may view the sole as prey or pound on it - lingcod, cabezon, or large sculpins
- Slow, fancy-finned or sand-sleeping fish that hang near the bottom and get ambushed or stressed
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