Selected species 



Ammodytes americanus, American sand lance 



The American sand lance {Ammodytes americanus) is found from the Arctic to Cape Hatteras 

 (Bigelow and Schroder 1953). They are primarily pelagic plankton feeders (Richards 1982). Individuals 

 form large schools and are found over sandy bottoms from near shore to the edge of the continental shelf 

 (Richards 1963; Leim and Scott 1966). Sand lance mature in one to two years and spawn between 

 December and March (Westin et al. 1979). Covill (1959) and Meyer et al. (1979) reported that large 

 annual fluctuations of sand lance abundance occur along the Atlantic coast. 



Sand lance have been collected in all fish programs. Except for 1984, when a large school of sand 

 lance was impinged, these fish have generally contributed less than 1% to annual total impingements 

 (NUSCo 1984a). The sand lance is a winter spawner and its larvae were collected from January to May 

 (Fig. 7); its abundance ranked third at EN and second at ND (Tables 10 and 12). Annual entrainment 

 estimates during the two-unit operation period (1976-1985), were based on median densities and ranged 

 from 5.8x10 (1985) to 66.7x10 (1977) (Table 9). Because sand lance eggs are demersal and adhesive 

 (Erizsche 1978), they were rarely collected. Sand lance were collected irifrequently in the trawl and seine 

 samples, probably because juvenile and adult sand lance burrow into the sand (Leim and Scott 1966), 

 thereby avoiding these gear. 



Annual impingement estimates for sand lance never exceeded 450 except in 1984 when 390,000 sand 

 lance were impinged during the week of July 18 (NUSCo 1985). This mass impingement of sand lance 

 did not recur and the estimated number of sand lance impinged in 1985 was comparable to historic levels 

 (Table 13). Time-series analysis did not adequately describe the fluctuations of impinged sand lance 

 because of the large numbers in 1984 and the low levels of impingement during all the other years. 



Larval sand lance were abundant in plankton collections from 1977-1981, but a marked decrease in 

 densities occurred after 1981 (Fig. 7). The temporal catch distribution of larval sand lance was as variable 

 as that seen in impingement (Tables 10 and 12). Larval sand lance were caught in large numbers during 

 short time periods. For example, more than 60% of the annual 1978 cumulative density was caught at 

 EN between January 23 and February 3, and more than 35% of the 1980 cumulative density on May 19. 



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