Velvet sole

Brachirus villosus

Also known as Synaptura villosa, Papuan velvet sole

FreshwaterBrackishFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–82°F (23–28°C)
pH: 6.8–7.8
Adult size: 4.1 in (10.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 30 gal (112 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Tankmates: Tankmates with caution
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Rivers of New Guinea
Family: Soleidae

Overview

This is a small freshwater flatfish that lies flat on the bottom, so it needs a soft sand bed it can settle into and a calm tank without pushy tankmates. Keep it singly or in a small number, and treat companions with caution: choose slow, peaceful fish too large to be eaten and too gentle to outcompete it, since a sole is easily starved at feeding time. It hunts by scent at night, so target-feed after dark with frozen and live foods such as bloodworm and mysis, placing food near it until it learns the routine. A sand-bottomed tank of around 112 liters or more suits one.

In the wild

The velvet sole lives in the rivers of New Guinea, over soft, muddy and sandy bottoms in turbid main channels and quiet backwaters. It handles fresh and slightly brackish water, so a little salt is optional. Give it fine sand to rest and bury in, gentle flow, and clean, well-oxygenated water at 23 to 28 C with a pH of 6.8 to 7.8. Keep the substrate soft, as coarse gravel can damage its underside.

Good to know

Brachirus villosus is a member of Soleidae, the true soles, and reaches about 10.5 centimeters. Still sold under the old name Synaptura villosa, it is a genuine flatfish with both eyes on one side of its body and a velvety, textured skin that gives it its name. Like other flatfish it starts life symmetrical, and one eye migrates across the head as it flattens onto the bottom.

Did you know

It is a sole that never went to sea. Almost all of its relatives are marine flatfish, but this one completes its whole life in fresh river water, hunting the riverbed as if it were the ocean floor.