Zanzibar tonguesole

Cynoglossus zanzibarensis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth74–236 m
Water temperature15–27 °C
Best monthsJanuary, April, and September
How commonCommon

About this species

Cynoglossus is a genus of fish in the family Cynoglossidae. Most species are indigenous to the Indo-Pacific region, but there are also a few in warmer parts of the East Atlantic. They are commonly found in shallow waters on a muddy or sandy bottom, including estuaries and a few species are restricted to fresh water. One species Cynoglossus sinusarabici has invaded the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea, a process known as Lessepsian or Erythrean migration.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cynoglossus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 1,117 records
February: 511 records
March: 28 records
April: 728 records
May: 612 records
June: 420 records
July: 395 records
August: 173 records
September: 910 records
October: 250 records
November: 4 records
December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 74–236 m · Deepest record: 595 m

0–10 m: 1 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 17 records
40–50 m: 51 records
50–60 m: 50 records
60–70 m: 90 records
70–80 m: 87 records
80–90 m: 140 records
90–100 m: 110 records
100–110 m: 199 records
110+ m: 1,798 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–27 °C

14–16 °C: 132 records
16–18 °C: 240 records
18–20 °C: 541 records
20–22 °C: 46 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Zanzibar tonguesole, redspotted tonguesole

Other scientific names: Cynoglossus zanzibariensis

Similar species

Spotfin Tongue Sole
Cynoglossus maculipinnis
Broadhurst's Tongue-sole
Cynoglossus broadhursti
McCulloch's Tongue-sole
Cynoglossus maccullochi
Malabar Sole
Cynoglossus macrostomus
Speckled Tonguesole
Cynoglossus puncticeps
smallscaled flatfish
Cynoglossus abbreviatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
5,154 open-data records from 1964 to 2009.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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