Ammodytes marinus Raitt, 1934
Lesser sand-eel
Ammodytes marinus
photo by Svensen, E.

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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