American sand lance

Open encyclopedia reference

Ammodytes americanus, also known as American sand lance, American sand eel, and sand launce, is a small fish in the family Ammodytidae. First described by James Ellsworth De Kay in 1842, it is widespread in the western North Atlantic. The fish typically travel in large schools, spending most of their time relatively near the water surface. It feeds primarily on plankton, though it is known to take small clams and snails from the sea floor, presumably when plankton is scarce. Towards dusk, schools of A. americanus bury themselves in coarse sand, typically from 1 to 6 in (2.5 to 15.2 cm) below the sand's surface close to the water's edge; they avoid rocky areas. They do this to avoid being detected by night-hunting species such as bluefish and stripers.

Ammodytes americanus is an important prey item for many species of fish, whales and birds. Breeding roseate terns, a federally endangered species in the United States, feed their chicks almost exclusively on the species.

Wikipedia contributors, Ammodytes americanus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:30:33.260279+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Ammodytes americanus DeKay, 1842

Name authority

DeKay, 1842

Common name

American sand lance

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Perciformes

Family

Ammodytidae

Genus

Ammodytes

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderPerciformes
11. suborderUranoscopoidei
12. familyAmmodytidae Bonaparte, 1835
13. genusAmmodytes Linnaeus, 1758
14. speciesAmmodytes americanus DeKay, 1842

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Ammodytes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 23 records assigned to Ammodytidae.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. DeKay, J. E. (1842). Zoology of New-York, or the New-York fauna; comprising detailed descriptions of all the animals hitherto observed within the state of New-York, with brief notices of those occasionally found near its borders, and accompanied by appropriate illustrations. Part IV. Fishes. W. & A. White & J. Visscher, Albany. (Part Of: Natural History of New York), i–xv + 1–415, Pls. 1–79. [Plates in separate volume; fishes, Pls. 1–79 [most in color].]. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.2079 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:66BLK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.