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Perciformes/Uranoscopoidei (Sand dwellers) >
Ammodytidae (Sand lances)
Etymology: Gymnammodytes: Greek, gymnos = naked + Greek, ammos = sand + Greek, dytes = somebody that likes immersions or diving (Ref. 45335).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; depth range 5 - 20 m (Ref. 127989). Temperate; 62°N - 37°N, 11°W - 13°E
Northeast Atlantic: southern coast of Norway and the Shetlands to Spain, including all coasts of the British Isles and the North Sea, but not the Baltic.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35388); common length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4645)
Dorsal soft rays (total): 53 - 56; Anal soft rays: 26 - 31. Palate without pointed teeth. Lateral line branched. Margins of dorsal and anal fins undulated. Scales restricted to the posterior third of the body (Ref. 35388).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.
Typically offshore over shell-gravel, also inshore where shell-gravel beaches occur. Feed on plankton. Summer batch spawner (Ref. 4674). By-catch in sand eel fisheries (Ref. 35388).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Reay, P.J., 1986. Ammodytidae. p. 945-950. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4674)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; bait: usually
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