---
title: Lachner's Tonguesole (Cynoglossus lachneri)
scientific_name: Cynoglossus lachneri
common_name: Lachner's Tonguesole
taxon: Lefteye flounders
conservation_status: LC - Least Concern
published: 2026-08-03T15:29:55.360Z
updated: 2026-08-08T21:48:00.064Z
tags: Lachner's Tonguesole, Cynoglossus lachneri, Lefteye flounders, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/lefteye-flounders/lachners-tonguesole
---

# Lachner's Tonguesole (*Cynoglossus lachneri*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Lefteye flounders
- **Size:** up to 46 cm
- **Diet:** Carnivore
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Rare
- **Habitat:** Sand and mud bottoms
- **Conservation status:** LC - Least Concern

## How to recognise it

- light brown with darker blotches
- long, tapering leaf-shaped body
- both eyes on the left side

A tonguesole of up to 46 cm, light brown with darker blotches, the body drawn out into the tapering leaf shape the group is named for. Both eyes are on the left side and the fin fringe continues around the pointed rear end with no distinct tail. It lies buried on sand and mud through the day and feeds at night on benthic invertebrates, quartering the bottom with the body pressed flat. The range is narrower than most of the group - the western Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea to Oman and the Seychelles - which makes it one of the region's more local flatfishes.

## Also known as

- **English:** Lachner's tonguesole
- **French:** Langue de Lachner
- **Russian:** Морской язык Лахнера
- **SOM:** Sheer-sheerto
- **SW:** Wayo

## Scientific synonyms

- *Cynoglossus hunteri* von Bonde, 1925

## Range

Comoros, Federal Republic of Somalia, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/lefteye-flounders/lachners-tonguesole)*
*Updated: August 8, 2026*