Butter Sole

Pleuronectes isolepis
(also known as Isopsetta isolepis)

Photo contributed by: Bill Barss Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

In-depth Information Regarding this Species

U.S. Range in the Pacific Ocean	Bering Sea to Southern California (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Habitat	Common in shallow water (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Depth range (meters)	Down to 366 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Average Maximum Overall Length (cm)	55.3 (Love 1996) 30 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Maximum Age for Males (years)	10 (Love 1996)
Maximum Age for Females (years)	11 (Love 1996)
Male Age at Maturity (years)	2 (Love 1996)
Female Age at Maturity (years)	3 (Love 1996)
Male Length at Maturity (cm)	10.2 (Love 1996)
Female Length at Maturity (cm)	25.4 (Love 1996)
Fecundity	350,000–1,000,0000 (Love 1996)
Time of Year of Spawning	February–April (Love 1996)
Habitat where Eggs are found	Near bottom (Love 1996)
Habitat where Larvae are found	Found in Columbia River and Yaquina Bay (Love 1996)
Juvenile Food Preference	Worms, Crabs, Small Clams, some Fish (Love 1996)
Adult Food Preference	Benthic organisms such as Polychaete Palps, Juvenile bivalves, Glam siphons, Harpacticoid copepods, Amphipods, Cumaceans, and Juvenile decapods (Houge and Carey 1982 in Stickney et al.1995)
Commercial Fishery	Trawlers take some (Love 1996)
Market	"…tasty species, sometimes marketed." (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Additional Use of the Species	Mink food (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)

Recent Wild Harvest Data for Oregon
Data from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Year	Total Catch (Pounds)	Ex-vessel Value ( U.S. Dollars)
1989	2,465	617
1990	0	0
1991	817	273
1992	167	3
1993	255	12
1994	1,936	628
1995	58	17
1996	0	0
1997	5,811	2,247
1998	7,879	2,833

© 2003 Stephen Sempier