Dexillus muelleri (Steindachner, 1879)

Open encyclopedia reference

The tufted sole (Dexillus muelleri) is a species of flatfish from the family of true soles Soleidae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Dexillus. It is found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

The tufted sole is found over seabeds which consist of sand, mud, gravel, and sea grass bottoms on the inner continental shelf, they are frequently recorded as coming into bays and the mouths of estuaries. They feed on a variety of benthic invertebrates and the maximum recorded standard length for this species is 221mm.

This species has been recorded from India and Sri Lanka, east through the Malay Archipelago and northern Australia to Tonga, Fiji and American Samoa. Its northern limit is the Philippines. It is of minor commercial importance.

Two other species, Brachirus macrolepis and Synaptura megalepidoura, which have both been placed by some authors in the genus Brachirus, alongside Dexillus muelleri, are also placed in the genus Dexillus by some authorities.

Wikipedia contributors, Tufted sole; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:30:51.295457+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Dexillus muelleri (Steindachner, 1879)

Name authority

(Steindachner, 1879)

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Pleuronectiformes

Family

Soleidae

Genus

Dexillus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderPleuronectiformes
11. suborderPleuronectoidei
12. familySoleidae Bonaparte, 1833
13. genusDexillus Chabanaud, 1930
14. speciesDexillus muelleri (Steindachner, 1879)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 132 records assigned to Soleidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=317688 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3566R. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.