| Family: |
Ammodytidae (Sand lances) |
| Max. size: |
25 cm TL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 10 years |
| Environment: |
benthopelagic; brackish; marine; depth range 10 - 150 m |
| Distribution: |
Northeast Atlantic: 74°N (Novaya Zemlya and Bear Islands) to 49°N (Channel Islands, western English Channel), including eastern Greenland, Iceland, Barents Sea (but not the White Sea) and the Baltic (but not the Gulf of Bothnia and Finland). |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 56-63; Anal soft rays: 29-33. Scales absent from a median band anterior to the dorsal fin and from the musculature at the base of caudal fin. Belly scales loosely arranged, not in chevrons. Vertebrae 65-75. Margins of dorsal and anal fins straight with rays of equal length. Lateral line pores linearly arranged along the unbranched canals. |
| Biology: |
This schooling species is usually territorial and burrowing (Ref. 40). Feed on plankton. High activity is correlated to periods with strong tidal currents; then they leave their bottom hides and form large shoals. During low light intensity (night and winter) they bury in the bottom (Ref. 35388). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
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