Small sandeel (Ammodytes tobianus)

Scientific name: Ammodytes tobianus Linnaeus, 1758

Small sandeel (Ammodytes tobianus)

The Small sandeel (Ammodytes tobianus) is a brackish-water fish of the family Ammodytidae.

Biology

Territorial; found in inshore waters, especially sandy bays and beaches, including the inter-tidal zone and estuaries; rarely offshore. Alternate between lying buried in the sandy substrate and swimming in schools in the water mass. Adults feed on zooplankton and some large diatoms. They hibernate in winter buried in sand at depths of 20-50 cm.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Ammodytes tobianus
Family
Ammodytidae (Sand lances)
Order
Perciformes (Perch-like fish)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
20.0
Depth range
1–96 m (3–315 ft)
Environment
Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 1 - 96 m
Climate
Temperate
Distribution
Northeast Atlantic: Murmansk to Spain, including Iceland and the Baltic and the Mediterranean. Two distinct but often sympatric spawning groups exist in the area but have not been given subspecies status although spawning groups differ in mean vertebral number (autumn higher than spring), otolith structure, and probably habitats.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; bait: usually
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.45-0.77; tm=1-2; tmax=7)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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