You can sponsor this page

Ammodytes americanus DeKay, 1842

American sand lance
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Ammodytes americanus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image

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 Identification keys | 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: Version 2024-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

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

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 2.7 - 14.2, mean 7.9 °C (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=0.00209 (0.00125 - 0.00348), b=3.14 (3.00 - 3.28), 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.
Generation time: 4.6 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth 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.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 60.3 [31.5, 129.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.414 [0.224, 0.729] mg/100g; Protein = 19 [18, 20] %; Omega3 = 0.421 [0.214, 0.762] g/100g; Selenium = 10.4 [4.7, 22.7] μg/100g; VitaminA = 30.5 [10.1, 92.3] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.845 [0.569, 1.247] mg/100g (wet weight);