FISHERY BOARD FOR SCOTLAND. 
THE SPAWNING AREAS OF SAND-EELS IN THE 
NORTH SEA. 
From THE RECORDS OF THE 
SCOTTISH FISHERY RESEARCH STEAMER 
“ GOLDSEEKER.” 
By ALEXANDER BOWMAN, D.Sc., ABERDEEN. 
In the North Sea and adjacent waters there are two species of 
sand-eels—Ammodytes tobianus and Ammodytes lanceolatus. In the 
adult stages these are easily identified, and they are readily 
distinguished from each other by certain well-known characteristics. 
For example, the mouth of A. lanceolatus is non-protrusible, whilst 
the mouth of A. tobianus, owing to the elongation of the nasal 
processes, is markedly protrusible. But the larval and earlier 
post-larval stages of these two species apparently present no very 
obvious specific characters, though they can always be recognised as 
young sand-eels by the position of the anus and the distribution 
of pigment. A. tobianus, the lesser sand-eel (average length of 
adult about 18 cm.), has a very wide area of distribution, extending 
from Spain in the South to the White Sea in the North. A. 
lanceolatus, the greater sand-eel (average length of adult about 
25 em.), has practically the same distribution, except that it may 
not extend so far north. Probably throughout the whole of the 
region indicated, and certainly within the Scottish area, the lesser 
sand-eel is met with much more frequently than the other. 
Sand-eels are of little or no commercial importance, although it is 
true that they are sometimes used for bait and that they were in 
former times, and to some extent still are, used for food purposes. 
While the direct economic value of sand-eels is thus almost 
negligible, they nevertheless occupy a most important place in the 
economy of the sea, for they are an essential part of the food supply 
of certain of the more important marketable fishes. At all periods 
of their existence, larve or adult, they are preyed upon. They 
never reach a size at which they are immune from attack; and, 
occurring as they do in such countless numbers, they are a 
permanent source of food for many species, and in particular for cod, 
haddock, whiting, herring. Herring are often rendered less 
valuable for curing purposes merely because they have fed 
voraciously on sand-eels, and it is no uncommon thing to find cod, 
haddock, and whiting gorged with sand-eels: as many as 120 adults 
of A. tobianus were on one occasion (23-1-’08) taken from the 
stomach of a large cod caught by the “ Goldseeker,”’ at Burghead 
(2953) Wt. 4016/84—500—1/1914. 
