RELATIVE ABUNDANCE, BEHAVIOR, AND FOOD HABITS 



OF THE AMERICAN SAND LANCE, AMMODYTES AMERICANUS, 



FROM THE GULF OF MAINE 



Thomas L. Meyer, Richard A. Cooper, and Richard W, Langton' 



ABSTRACT 



Meristic characteristics of sand lance taken from Stellwagen Bank indicated the species to be the 

 American sand \ance, A mmodytes a menvanus. Bottom trawl data, ichthyoplankton surveys, and diver 

 and submersible observations demonstrated a significant increase in relative abundance of sand lance 

 since about 1975 on Stellwagen Bank; this trend was typical of the Northwest Atlantic from Cape 

 Hatteras. N.C., to the Gulf of Maine. School shapes were constant in appearance, vertically compres- 

 sed, tightly compacted, and bluntly linear from a dorsal and ventral view. School strengths varied from 

 about 100 to tens of thousands of individuals with the nearest-neighbor distance ranging from '/* to 1''2 

 body lengths. The swimming motion is sinusoidal in form and eellike in appearance. Swimming speeds 

 varied from 15 to over 120cmy's. Copepods were the most important food source, constituting 4 l*^f of the 

 total weight of food consumed; sand lance feed in school formation between midwater and the surface. 

 Sand lance bury themselves totally or partially in clean sandy substrates when not schooling. 



In the Northwest Atlantic, sand lance range from 

 Cape Hatteras, N.C., to Hudson Bay. They occur 

 over sand and fine gravel bottoms and play an 

 important role as a trophic Imk between zoo- 

 plankton and commercially important fish such as 

 Atlantic cod, haddock, silver hake, and yellowtail 

 flounder (Scott 1968, 1973; Bowman and Langton 

 1978). Several species of sportfish (e.g., striped 

 bass and bluefish) also utilize the sand lance as a 

 food source (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). 



Studies of the eggs, larvae, and postlarvae of the 

 American sand lance, Ammodytes americanus. 

 have been reported by Covill (1959), Richards 

 (1959, 1965, 1976), Norcross et al. (1961), Wil- 

 liams et al. (1964), and Richards and Kendall 

 ( 1973). Investigations on the adult sand lance in- 

 clude taxonomic studies by Backus (1957), 

 Richards et al. ( 1963). Leim and Scott (1966), Reay 

 (1970), Winters (1970), Scott (1972-), and Pelle- 

 grini^ and studies on mortality and growth by 

 Graham ( 1956) and Pellegrini (see footnote 2). De- 

 spite these investigations, little is known about 

 the relative abundance, biology, behavior, and 

 food habits of the adult American sand lance. 



'Northeast Fisheries Center Woods Hole Laboratory, Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Woods Hole. MA 02543. 



2Pellegrini,R. 1976. Aspectsofthebiology of the American 

 sand \ance, Ammodytes ariiencanus. from the lower Merrimack 

 River estuary, Massachusetts. Master's problem, Univ. Mas- 

 sachusetts, Amherst, 44 p. 



Manuscript accepted September 1978 

 fishery bulletin vol 77. NO 1. 1979 



For the last 10 yr, information has been col- 

 lected on sand lance during fishery cruises and 

 undersea research programs conducted by the 

 Northeast Fisheries Center, National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, NOAA, Woods Hole, Mass. The 

 purpose of this paper is to describe some aspects of 

 the abundance, behavior, and food habits of the 

 American sand lance based on bottom trawl 

 (groundfish) survey data, observations by scuba 

 divers and from research submersibles with 

 photographic records, and a food-habit study. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Study Area 



The majority of the observations on sand lance 

 were made on Stellwagen Bank, a submarine 

 ridge that rises to within 18 m of the ocean surface 

 on the eastern boundary of Massachusetts Bay 

 (Figure 1). The length of the bank is 39 km 

 (north-south axis) and its greatest width is 13 km 

 (at the southern end). Depths range from 18 to 77 

 m. Substrate characteristics by depth interval re- 

 corded during submersible operations are: 18-43 

 m — sandy; 43-55 m — sandy bottom with crushed 

 shells; 55-77 m — gravel, rocky with boulders; and 

 below 77 m — mud/silt. Approximately 95'7c of the 

 bank has a sandy bottom. 



Additional observations on sand lance were 



243 



