Immaculate Great Sand Eel

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Immaculate Great Sand Eel
Systematics
Spinefish (Acanthopterygii)
Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae)
Order : Uranoscopiformes
Family : Sand eels (Ammodytidae)
Genre : Hyperoplus
Type : Immaculate Great Sand Eel
Scientific name
Hyperoplus immaculatus
( Corbin , 1950)

The immaculate great sand eel ( Hyperoplus immaculatus ) is an elongated marine fish that occurs in the northeast Atlantic on the coasts of the British Isles , in the English Channel to the north coast of Brittany .

features

The Immaculate Great Sandeel grows to a maximum of 35 cm in length, but usually stays at 20 cm. Sexual maturity occurs with a length of 11 to 15 cm. The main feature that distinguishes it from the spotted great sandeel ( Hyperoplus lanceolatus ), the only other species in the genus Hyperoplus , is the lack of a dark spot on either side of the snout. In contrast to the small sandeel ( Ammodytes marinus ) and the Tobias fish ( Ammodytes tobianus ), the upper jaws of the two Hyperoplus species are not protractile (cannot be turned out). They have two pointed teeth on the palate. The long dorsal fin extends over a large part of the length of the body, the anal fin begins behind the middle. The caudal fin is forked. When put on, the pectoral fins extend to the beginning of the dorsal fin.

Way of life

The immaculate great sand eel lives near the coast in the sea and in brackish water in the intertidal zone and in river mouths. It is usually associated with Ammodytes species, spends the day buried in the sand and searches for food in large schools at dusk and at night to catch zooplankton and small fish such as young herring and smaller sand eels. Unlike the spotted great sandeel, the immaculate great sand eel spawns in winter.

use

Like other sand eels, the immaculate great sand eel is an important catch for industrial fishing and is processed into fish meal and fish oil . Its meat is also rarely consumed directly.

literature

  • Bent J. Muus, Jørgen G. Nielsen: The marine fish of Europe in the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Atlantic. Kosmos, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07804-3 .

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