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Brief Summary

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Sand-smelt was common in the Dutch coastal waters, but it is continually growing rarer. It is a small fish: maximum 21 centimeters long. It eats zooplankton and crustaceans. This fish grows very slowly throughout the year, except in the period between July and October. Its spawning season is in June and July.
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Diagnostic Description

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Scales in longitudinal series 52-57. Vertebrae 46-52 (Morocco), 49-52 (the Netherlands). No pyloric appendages. A large, characteristic, brilliant silvery stripe running along flanks from head to tail, often outlined in black. No true lateral line (Ref. 232). Eye diameter same with snout length (Ref. 35388).
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Susan M. Luna
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Life Cycle

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Spawning occurs in midsummer in English Channel and North Sea.
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Migration

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Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.
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Rainer Froese
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Morphology

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Dorsal spines (total): 7 - 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 114; Analspines: 1; Analsoft rays: 14 - 17
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Trophic Strategy

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Littoral. Forms schools; sometimes occurs in low-salinity water. Carnivorous, feeds on small crustaceans, fish larvae (Ref. 5980).
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Biology

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Small pelagic fishes in coastal areas and estuaries. Schooling, seasonal migrations in the Atlantic. Feeds on carnivorous small crustaceans and fish larvae (Ref. 5980). Reproduces in spring and summer (Ref. 30578).
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Importance

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fisheries: subsistence fisheries; gamefish: yes
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Sand smelt

provided by wikipedia EN

The sand smelt (Atherina presbyter) is a species of marine fish of the family Atherinidae, common in the northeastern Atlantic from the Danish straits, where it is rare, and Scotland to the Canary Islands and the western Mediterranean Sea.[1] Sand smelt are small, pelagic fishes which are found in coastal areas and in estuaries. They are a schooling species which undertake seasonal migrations in the Atlantic. They are carnivorous and prey on small crustaceans and fish larvae. Reproduction takes place in the spring and summer, in the North Sea and the English Channel spawning takes place over midsummer.[2]

Sand smelt generally live in semi-isolated populations around river estuaries.[3] A population living around the entrance to Southampton water was found to spawn in the April–June period within inshore algae beds before moving out into the deeper waters of the Solent.[3]

The small size of the sand smelt means it often unable to escape being drawn onto screens used to remove fish and weed from power station cooling water intake and in the case of the Southampton water population it was the species most commonly found on the Fawley Power Station screens.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Gon, O. (2015). "Atherina presbyter". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T194991A13489435. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T194991A13489435.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Atherina presbyter" in FishBase. February 2019 version.
  3. ^ a b c Tubbs, Colin (1999). The Ecology, Conservation and History of the Solent. Packard Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 1853411167.
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Sand smelt: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

The sand smelt (Atherina presbyter) is a species of marine fish of the family Atherinidae, common in the northeastern Atlantic from the Danish straits, where it is rare, and Scotland to the Canary Islands and the western Mediterranean Sea. Sand smelt are small, pelagic fishes which are found in coastal areas and in estuaries. They are a schooling species which undertake seasonal migrations in the Atlantic. They are carnivorous and prey on small crustaceans and fish larvae. Reproduction takes place in the spring and summer, in the North Sea and the English Channel spawning takes place over midsummer.

Sand smelt generally live in semi-isolated populations around river estuaries. A population living around the entrance to Southampton water was found to spawn in the April–June period within inshore algae beds before moving out into the deeper waters of the Solent.

The small size of the sand smelt means it often unable to escape being drawn onto screens used to remove fish and weed from power station cooling water intake and in the case of the Southampton water population it was the species most commonly found on the Fawley Power Station screens.

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