Sand lance: a review of biology and predator relations and annotated bibliography

Six species of sand lance (Ammodytes) in temperate and boreal regions are c urrently recognized. Sand lance can occupy a wide range of environmental co nditions, but all appear to be dormant predominantly in winter, and one spe cies is in summer also. They lack a swim bladder and spend much of their ti me buried in specific substrates. Copepods are the primary food. Spawning u sually occurs in fall or winter (although some species also spawn in spring ), eggs are demersal, and larvae may hatch at times of low food abundance. Sand lance usually occur in schools and are regarded as a relatively high-q uality forage fish. Sand lance constitute a major prey for at least some populations of over 10 0 species of consumer, including 40 species of birds, 12 species of marine mammals, 45 species of fishes, and some invertebrates. Variation in the ava ilability of sand lance (and other forage fishes) can have major effects on the breeding success and survival of their predators. Commercial fishing a nd other pressures on sand lance populations potentially have ramifying eff ects on many species of wildlife. The bibliography contains over 1,700 references on the family Ammodytidae, with an emphasis on the genus Ammodytes. Keywords are provided for each ref erence and have been further organized into taxonomic, geographic, subject, and predator indexes.