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Ammodytes americanus DeKay, 1842

American sand lance
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Ammodytes americanus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Canada country information

Common names: Lance, Lançon d'Amérique, Lant
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Ranges from Quebec to Labrador, southward to Nova Scotia (Ref. 4926). Also Ref. 5951.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.ncr.dfo.ca/home_e.htm
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Leim, A.H. and W.B. Scott, 1966
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Lançon d'Amérique, Lance, Lançon d'Amérique, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Uranoscopoidei (Sand dwellers) > Ammodytidae (Sand lances)
Etymology: Ammodytes: Greek, ammos = sand + Greek, dytes = anyone that likes immersions, diving (Ref. 45335).
  More on author: DeKay.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 0 - 73 m (Ref. 57178).   Temperate; 62°N - 35°N, 82°W - 3°W (Ref. 57356)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Northwest Atlantic: southern Delaware north to Labrador.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 9.0, range 7 - ? cm
Max length : 23.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5951)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 52-61; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 26 - 33; Vertebrae: 62 - 70. Number of lateral plicae 106-126, with a mean of 117.4. Best separated from A. dubius by the number of plicae singly or in combination with the number of vertebrae.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in shallow coastal waters as well as in protected bays and estuaries (Ref. 10198). Occurs in large schools and burrows in the sand at times to a depth of several inches. Feeds primarily on copepods (Ref. 27549).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous (Ref. 101747).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Nizinski, M.S., B.B. Collette and B.B. Washington, 1990. Separation of two species of sand lances, Ammodytes americanus and A. dubius, in the western North Atlantic. Fish. Bull. 88:241-255. (Ref. 10198)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of potential interest
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 2.7 - 14.2, mean 7.9 (based on 128 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5156   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00204 (0.00128 - 0.00325), b=3.16 (3.03 - 3.29), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.