Sand lance

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Sand lances
Ammodytes hexapterus.jpg
Ammodytes hexapterus
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Trachiniformes
Family: Ammodytidae
Bonaparte, 1832
Genera [1]

Ammodytes
Ammodytoides
Bleekeria
Gymnammodytes
Hyperoplus
Lepidammodytes
Protammodytes

Contents

A common tern with a sand lance, Biddeford Pool, ME - August 2013 Tern-sand-lance.jpg
A common tern with a sand lance, Biddeford Pool, ME - August 2013

A sand lance or sandlance is a fish belonging to the family Ammodytidae. Several species of sand lances are commonly known as "sand eels", though they are not related to true eels. Another variant name is launce, [2] and all names of the fish are references to its slender body and pointed snout. The family name (and genus name, Ammodytes ) means "sand burrower", which describes the sand lance's habit of burrowing into sand to avoid tidal currents.

Sand lances are most commonly encountered by fishermen in the North Pacific and North Atlantic, but are found in oceans throughout the world. These fish do not have pelvic fins and do not develop swim bladders, staying true to their bottom-dwelling habit as adults. Both adult and larval sea lances primarily feed on copepods. Larval forms of this fish are perhaps the most abundant of all fish larvae in areas such as the northwest Atlantic, serving as a major food item for cod, salmon, whales [3] and other commercially important species. As adults, sand lances are harvested commercially in some areas (primarily in Europe), leading to direct human competition with diving birds such as puffins, auks, terns, and cormorants. Some species are inshore coastal dwellers, and digging for sand lances to use as a bait fish has been a popular pastime in coastal areas of Europe and North America. Other species are deep-water dwellers, some of which have only recently been described to science, and most of which lack common names. Sand lances have chameleon-like independent eye movements.

Ammodytes americanus Ammodytes americanus.jpg
Ammodytes americanus
Ammodytes tobianus Ammodytes tobianus Gervais.jpg
Ammodytes tobianus
Ammodytes dubius Northern sand lance.jpg
Ammodytes dubius

Timeline

QuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.Plio.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneHyperoplusAmmodytesQuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.Plio.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneSand lance

See also

The sand lance has lent its name to two submarines of the United States Navy:

Related Research Articles

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Eel life history

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Haddock Species of fish

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Sand eel

Sand eel or sandeel is the common name used for a considerable number of species of fish. While they are not true eels, they are eel-like in their appearance and can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in length. Many species are found off the western coasts of Europe from Spain to Scotland, and in the Mediterranean and Baltic seas.

Pelagic fish

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Demersal fish Fish that live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes

Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes. They occupy the sea floors and lake beds, which usually consist of mud, sand, gravel or rocks. In coastal waters they are found on or near the continental shelf, and in deep waters they are found on or near the continental slope or along the continental rise. They are not generally found in the deepest waters, such as abyssal depths or on the abyssal plain, but they can be found around seamounts and islands. The word demersal comes from the Latin demergere, which means to sink.

Crevalle jack

The crevalle jack, also known as the common jack, black-tailed trevally, couvalli jack, black cavalli, jack crevale, or yellow cavalli is a common species of large marine fish classified within the jack family, Carangidae. The crevalle jack is distributed across the tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Nova Scotia, Canada to Uruguay in the west Atlantic and Portugal to Angola in the east Atlantic, including the Mediterranean Sea. It is distinguishable from similar species by its deep body, fin colouration and a host of more detailed anatomical features, including fin ray and lateral line scale counts. It is one of the largest fish in the genus Caranx, growing to a maximum known length of 124 cm and a weight of 32 kg, although is rare at lengths greater than 60 cm. The crevalle jack inhabits both inshore and offshore waters to depths of around 350 m, predominantly over reefs, bays, lagoons and occasionally estuaries. Young fish dispersed north by currents in the eastern Atlantic are known to migrate back to more tropical waters before the onset of winter; however, if the fish fail to migrate, mass mortalities occur as the temperature falls below the species' tolerance.

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Atlantic halibut Species of fish

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Witch (righteye flounder)

Glyptocephalus cynoglossus, known in English by a variety of common names including the witch, witch flounder, pole flounder, craig fluke, Torbay sole and grey sole, is a species of flatfish from the family Pleuronectidae. It occurs on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean on muddy sea beds in quite deep water. In northern Europe it has some importance in fisheries as a food fish.

Lesser sand eel

The lesser sand eel or sand lance is a species of fish in the sand lance family Ammodytidae. It is an elongated cylindrical fish which may be up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long.

Summer flounder

The summer flounder is a marine flatfish that is found in the Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast of the United States and Canada. It is especially abundant in waters from North Carolina to Massachusetts.

Raitts sand eel Species of fish

Raitt's sand eel, also known as the lesser sand eel, is a small semi-pelagic ray-finned fish found in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Raitt's sand eel is member of the family Ammodytidae which includes all 31 species of sand eels, often referred to as sand lances. Contrary to their name sand eels, including Raitt's sand eel, are not true eels and instead belong to the order of “weever-like” fishes, the Trachiniformes.

The striped cusk-eel is a species of fish in the family Ophidiidae. It is found in the northwest Atlantic.

<i>Ammodytes</i> Genus of fishes

Ammodytes is a genus of sand lances native to the northern oceans.

Juvenile fish

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The mottled false moray, is an eel in the family Chlopsidae. It was described by Alvin Seale in 1917, originally under the genus Garmanichthys. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the west coast of Africa, as well as regions in the eastern and western Atlantic, western Pacific, and western Indian Oceans. It typically dwells at a depth of 64–355 m. Males can reach a maximum total length of 19.9 cm.

Painted eel

The Painted eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, originally under the genus Muraena. It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, including the Bay of Biscay, the Republic of Congo, and the Mediterranean. It dwells at a depth range of 3 to 12 metres, and inhabits burrows formed in sand and mud sediments in coastal lagoons and estuaries. Males can reach a maximum total length of 100 centimetres (39 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 60 centimetres (24 in).

The African spoon-nose eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John Richardson in 1848. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, including Mauritania and Namibia. It is known to dwell at an approximate depth of 40 metres, and inhabits lagoons and coastal waters. It leads a benthic lifestyle, burrowing into sand and mud. Males can reach a maximum total length of 140 centimetres, but more commonly reach a TL of 80 cm.

Ammodytes americanus, also known as American sand lance, American sand eel, and sand launce, is a small fish in the family Ammodytidae. First described by James Ellsworth De Kay in 1842, it is widespread in the western North Atlantic. Like all sand lances, it has a long, thin body with a pointed snout; mature fish typically range from 4 to 6 in in length, though some may reach 7 in (18 cm). Its back is greenish-brown, while its sides and abdomen are silvery. It has a long, low dorsal fin which extends along most of its back, folding into a groove at the fin's base when not in use. Its anal fin is roughly the same height as the dorsal fin, and extends over the posterior third of the fish's body. Its pectoral fins are small, and its caudal fin is forked. Its mouth is large and toothless, with a lower jaw that extends well beyond the upper. It typically travels in large schools, spending most of its time relatively near the water surface. It feeds primarily on plankton, though it is known to take small clams and snails from the sea floor, presumably when plankton is scarce. Towards dusk, schools of A. americanus bury themselves in sand, typically from 1 to 6 in below the sand's surface close to the water's edge; they avoid rocky areas. They do this to avoid being detected by night-hunting species such as bluefish and stripers.

References

  1. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2012). "Ammodytidae" in FishBase. December 2012 version.
  2. Bigalow &amp Schroeder, 1953
  3. "Do Whales Have Culture? Humpbacks Pass on Behavior". News.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-28.