Sand lance

Sand lance

Taxobox
name = Sand lances


image_width = 240px
image_caption = Northern sand lance, "Ammodytes dubius"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Perciformes
familia = Ammodytidae
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Ammodytes" "Ammodytoides" "Bleekeria" "Gymnammodytes" "Hyperoplus" "Lepidammodytes" "Protammodytes" See text for species.

A sand lance or sandlance is a fish belonging to the family Ammodytidae. Several species of sand lance are commonly known as "sand eels" or "sandeels", though they are not related to true eels. Another variant name is launce, 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 a swim bladder, 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, 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, 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.

Species

There are twenty-three species in seven genera:
* Genus "Ammodytes"
** American sand lance, "Ammodytes americanus" DeKay, 1842.
** Northern sand lance, "Ammodytes dubius" Reinhardt, 1837.
** Pacific sand lance, "Ammodytes hexapterus" Pallas, 1814.
** Small sand-eel, "Ammodytes marinus" Raitt, 1934.
** Pacific sandeel, "Ammodytes personatus" Girard, 1856.
** Lesser sand eel, "Ammodytes tobianus" Linnaeus, 1758.
* Genus "Ammodytoides"
** Gill's sand lance, "Ammodytoides gilli" (Bean, 1895).
** "Ammodytoides kimurai" Ida & Randall, 1993.
** Pitcairn Sandlance, "Ammodytoides leptus" Collette & Randall, 2000.
** "Ammodytoides pylei" Randall, Ida & Earle, 1994.
** Scaly sandlance, "Ammodytoides renniei" (Smith, 1957).
** "Ammodytoides vagus" (McCulloch & Waite, 1916).
* Genus "Bleekeria"
** "Bleekeria kallolepis" Günther, 1862.
** "Bleekeria mitsukurii" Jordan & Evermann, 1902.
** "Bleekeria viridianguilla" (Fowler, 1931).
* Genus "Gymnammodytes"
** Cape sandlance, "Gymnammodytes capensis" (Barnard, 1927).
** Mediterranean sand eel, "Gymnammodytes cicerellus" (Rafinesque, 1810).
** Smooth sandeel, "Gymnammodytes semisquamatus" (Jourdain, 1879).
* Genus "Hyperoplus"
** Great sand eel, "Hyperoplus immaculatus" (Corbin, 1950).
** Greater sand eel, "Hyperoplus lanceolatus" (Le Sauvage, 1824).
* Genus "Lepidammodytes"
** "Lepidammodytes macrophthalmus" Ida, Sirimontaporn & Monkolprasit, 1994.
* Genus "Protammodytes"
** "Protammodytes brachistos" Ida, Sirimontaporn & Monkolprasit, 1994.
** "Protammodytes sarisa" (Robins & Böhlke, 1970).

See also

The sand lance has lent its name to two submarines of the United States Navy:
* USS "Sand Lance" (SS-381), a "Balao"-class submarine.
* USS "Sand Lance" (SSN-660), a "Sturgeon"-class nuclear submarine.

References

*
* [http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/205/9/1241 biologists.org on independent eye movements]

External links

* [http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/zone/underwater_sous-marin/SandLance/sandlanc_e.htm Sand Lance] profile at Fisheries and Oceans Canada


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • sand lance — sand′ lance n. ich any slender marine fish of the family Ammodytidae that burrows into the sand • Etymology: 1770–80; appar. lance, from its shape …   From formal English to slang

  • sand lance — Lance fish Lance fish . (Zo[ o]l.) A slender marine fish of the genus {Ammodytes}, especially {Ammodytes tobianus} of the English coast; called also {sand lance}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • sand lance — n. any of a family (Ammodytidae) of small, eel like, marine percoid fishes often found burrowing in coastal sands …   English World dictionary

  • sand lance — noun very small silvery eellike schooling fishes that burrow into sandy beaches • Syn: ↑sand launce, ↑sand eel, ↑launce • Hypernyms: ↑spiny finned fish, ↑acanthopterygian • Member Holonyms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • sand lance — any slender marine fish of the family Ammodytidae that burrows into the sand. Also, sand launce. [1770 80] * * * ▪ fish also called  sand eel        any of about 18 species of marine fishes of the family Ammodytidae (order Perciformes). Sand… …   Universalium

  • sand lance — noun Date: 1776 any of several small elongate marine bony fishes (genus Ammodytes of the family Ammodytidae) that associate in large schools and remain buried in sandy beaches at ebb tide called also sand eel, sand launce …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • USS Sand Lance (SS-381) — USS Sand Lance (SS 381), a Balao class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sand lance, a member of the ammodytidae family. Her keel was laid down on 12 March 1943 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. She was… …   Wikipedia

  • USS Sand Lance (SSN-660) — USS Sand Lance (SSN 660), a Sturgeon class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sand lance, a member of the ammodytidae family. The contract to build her was awarded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery …   Wikipedia

  • USS Sand Lance (SSN-660) — USS «Sand Lance» (SSN 660) …   Википедия

  • USS Sand Lance — Two submarines of the United States Navy have been named USS Sand Lance for the sand lance, a fish of the ammodytidae family.*The first USS Sand Lance (SS 381), a Balao class submarine, served during World War II, then was loaned to Brazil,… …   Wikipedia

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