The Herre’s sole (reticulated sole) is a Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) endemic fish that has been reported for Revillagigedos (Mexico) and Galapagos (Ecuador) archipelagos, and Cocos island (Costa Rica). In April 2012, two specimens of Aseraggodes herrei were observed on a sandy bottom of a coral reef (El Arrecife) at Malpelo Island while undertaking surveys on damselfishes. The specimens were photographed under low light conditions and a ruler was placed next to them for scale purposes (Figure 1). This record extends its geographic range and insular occupancy in the TEP.

Aseraggodes herrei is a flatfish that inhabits shallow waters, presumably up to 75 m. It is known from few specimens collected in separated geographic locations in the TEP (^{Seale, 1940}; ^{Bussing and López, 2005}; ^{Robertson and Allen, 2015}). Its description was carried out based on one specimen collected in Charles Island (Galápagos) during the Allan Hancock expeditions (^{Seale, 1940}). This species has been recorded only within marine protected areas in the TEP, and it does not have a value for fisheries (^{Krupp, 1995}). To date, there is deficient data to evaluate its population status (^{Nielsen et al., 2010}).

The Malpelo Flora and Fauna Sanctuary (4° 0′ N, 81° 36.5′ W) is located 380 km to the west of the mainland coast in the Colombian Pacific. The island emerges from a volcanic submarine mountain (Malpelo Ridge) and vertical rock walls predominate around it (^{Stead, 1975}). El Arrecife is the largest and most developed coral formation at Malpelo and is located on its east coast (^{Zapata and Vargas-Ángel, 2003}). There are corals between 4 m and 30 m depth and its area is 2.34 ha (^{Chasqui and Zapata, 2007}). There is a zonation pattern with branching corals (Pocillopora capitata) dominating in the shallow and massive corals in deeper substrates (^{Birkeland et al., 1975}, ^{Zapata and Vargas-Ángel, 2003}). The deep zone of the reef has a strip of coral rubble and sand to the south, and another to the north, which divides this deep zone into two sectors with different coral aggregations (^{Sánchez et al., 2019}).

The two specimens of A. herrei were found at 24 m in a sandy bottom in the north end of El Arrecife (Figure 1A), close to boulders and colonies of Gardineroseris planulata. Both individuals were camouflaged with the color of the bottom and their reaction to divers’ proximity was burying themselves into the sand. One individual was photographed complete before it escaped (Figure 1b). The digital image of the specimen was used to measure its Total Length (TL), its Standard Length (SL) and the Body Depth (BD) with the help of ImageJ software (^{Schneider et al., 2012}). The specimen had TL = 59.9 mm, ST = 53.8 mm and BD = 22.1 mm (Figure 1B). The color pattern was irregular with white, light and dark brown blotches, which matched with the sandy bottom. Dorsal and anal fins followed a similar color pattern and had some dark brown and whitish striped rays. Caudal fin showed dark brown, light brown and white irregular thin stripes. The body was oval-shaped and strongly compressed, and the head was rounded (Figure 1A and 1B). Both eyes were on the right side, separated by a narrow space. One of the two nostrils (anterior) was tubular, not exceeding the eyes height (Figure 1C). The lateral line was complete and straight along the body. The caudal fin was not connected to the dorsal and anal fins. The pelvic fin, which is observed pointing forwards, white colored and with two brown blotches on Figure 1C, was on the left side of the head, showing that this is a right-sided flatfish, a common characteristic of the family Soleidae. A characteristic fringe of papillae around the margin of the head is also seen on Figure 1C, visible as elongate thin white projections on the front of the head. These visual characters coincided with those reported for the genus (^{Randall et al., 2013}) and the species (^{Seale, 1940}; ^{Robertson and Allen, 2015}), although we were not able to take meristic data.

Figure 1 Aseraggodes herrei on sandy bottom at Malpelo Island. A) Underwater photography of two specimen sighted. B) General view of the specimen used for body measurements. C) Details of the anterior part of the sole showing the caudal fin on the left side of the body, papillae along the edge of the head, and the tubular anterior nostril. 

Little is known about the biology and ecology of A. herrei. Its preferred habitat is soft bottom, composed of sand and coral rubble (^{Robertson et al., 2015}). The availability of this habitat on shallow waters at Malpelo is limited, as the island is predominantly surrounded by steep rocky walls. Due to their rocky nature, the few shallow terraces found at the island are dominated by loose boulders (^{Stead, 1975}; ^{Niño et al., 2019}), although some patches and strips of sand are found around 30 m depth (^{Chasqui and Zapata, 2007}; ^{Sánchez et al., 2019}). Deeper platforms at Malpelo (100 to 150 m depth) (^{Stead, 1975}; ^{Niño et al., 2019}), where suitable habitats for the Herre´s sole and other benthic fish could be found, are unexplored and understudied. More research is needed not only for A. herrei itself but also regarding the places it inhabits, especially at Malpelo, where new records have been reported on reef species, and exceptional behaviors of some species have been documented (^{Mora et al., 2000}; ^{Cohen-Rengifo et al., 2009}; Narvaez and Zapata, 2010; ^{Quimbayo et al., 2010}; ^{Rodríguez-Moreno et al., 2011}; ^{Rojas-Vélez and Tavera, 2017}; ^{Tavera and Rojas-Vélez, 2017}).