| U.S. Range in the Pacific Ocean |
Alaska to Southern California (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Habitat |
Shallow nearshore areas (Field 1988)
Need strong bottom current to keep oxygen levels high (Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Substrate |
The substrate is important for this species
Unconsolidated sand or small gravel (Emmett et al. 1991)
Sand or sand/gravel (Love 1996, Field 1988) |
| Depth range (meters) |
Intertidal to 47 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Behavior |
School
Burrow in substrate (Love 1996, Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Burrow to escape predators (Emmett et al. 1991)
Burrow at night (Girsa and Danilov 1976, Hobson 1986 both in Emmett et al. 1991)
Burrowed in winter except when spawning (Pinto 1984 in Emmett et al. 1991)
Inactive in winter (Field 1988)
On surface when offshore (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| General Temperature Range (°C) |
20 (will burrow in sand and become dormant) (Nagashi and Sano 1979 in Field 1988) |
| General Salinity Range (ppt) |
Marine to mesohaline
Also found near freshwater seeps (Wang 1986 in Emmett et al. 1991)
Mainly marine
Found near freshwater input (Love 1996) |
| Average Maximum Overall Length (cm) |
26.7 (Love 1996)
28 (Fitch and Lavenberg 1975 in Emmett et al. 1991)
20 South of the Bering Sea (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Length When Harvested (cm) |
2–26 in Japan (Field 1988) |
| Overall Maximum Age (years) |
8+ (Love 1996, Fitch and Lavenberg 1975 in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Overall Age at Maturity (years) |
1–3 (Inoue et al. 1967 in Emmett et al. 1991, Love 1996)
2–3 (Alaska) (Field 1988) |
| Overall Length at Maturity (cm) |
12.7+ (Love 1996) |
| Type of Reproduction |
Gonochoristic, oviparous, iteroparous
External fertilization (Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Fecundity |
3,300–22,100
6,800 (average) (Andriyashev 1954 in Field 1988) |
| Time of Year of Spawning |
January–March (Love 1996)
November–March (Andriyashev 1954, Fitch and Lavenberg 1975, Wang 1986 all in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Number of Spawns per season |
1 (Field 1988, Love 1996) |
| Description of Eggs |
Demersal and adhesive (Love1996, Field 1988, Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Days to Hatch |
21–28 (Love 1996)
24 (at 9°C) (Pinto 1984 in Field 1988)
51 (at 6.5°C)
25 (at 10.5°C)
20 (at 15.5°C) (Yamashita and Aoyama 1985 in Field 1988)
33 (at 6.2°C) (Inoue et al. 1967 in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Temperature for Egg Survival (°C) |
8.2 (maximum hatch rate) (Inoue et al. 1967 in Field 1988) |
| Habitat where Larvae are found |
Shallow water during day
Deep at night (Love 1996)
Pelagic, schooling (Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Days in Larval Stage |
100–131 days (Love 1996) |
| Larval Food Preference |
When less than 20 mm individuals individuals ate prey less than 500 microns in diameter
When 20–40 mm ate 0.5–1.5 mm zooplankton (i.e. Microcalanus, Oithona, Pseudocalanus) (LeBrasseur et al. 1969 in Field 1988)
Can survive up to 2 weeks without food (Buckley et al. 1984, Winslade 1971 in Field 1988)
Small individuals ate: Diatoms, Dinoflagellates
Large individuals ate: Copepod and Copepod nauplii (Garrison and Miller 1982 in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Habitat where Juveniles are found |
School with adults and Pacific Herring (Love 1996)
Pelagic, school (Emmett et al. 1991)
Sometimes demersal (Reay 1970, Garrison and Miller 1982 both in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Juvenile Food Preference |
Mainly Copepods
Also Crustacean larvae, Larvaceans, Cladocerans, Chaetognoaths, Fish larvae, Mysids, Gammarid Amphipods (Field 1988, Simenstand et al. 1979 in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Habitat where Adults are found (depth in meters) |
Pelagic, school (Emmett et al. 1991)
Sometimes demersal (Reay 1970, Garrison and Miller 1982 both in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Adult Food Preference |
Zooplankton (Calanoid Copepods, Mysid Shrimp, Crustacean Larvae, Gammarid Amphipods, Chaetognaths) (Love 1996)
Also eat Harpacticoid Copepods, Larvaceans, Polychaetes (Field 1988)
Switch to benthic animals when zooplankton is low (Richards 1982 in Field 1988)
Mainly Copepods (Simenstad et al. 1979 in Emmett et al. 1991)
Other Plankton supplemental to copepods (Hart 1973 in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Environmental Considerations |
Atlantic species showed incubation time and mortality increased with drop in oxygen concentration (from 9.5 to 4.0 ppm) (Winslade 1971 in Field 1988)
No eggs hatched at 2.1 ppm (Field 1988) |
| Commercial Fishery |
Not commercial in US (Emmett et al. 1991)
Japanese take about 100,000 tons per year (Field 1987 in Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Market |
"…rumor has it they are yummy (Love 1996)."
Potential in the US (Tumble 1973 in Field 1988)
"…reported to be delicious (Clemens and Wilby 1961 in Emmett et al. 1991)." |
| Additional Use of the Species |
Used as bait (Emmett et al. 1991) |
| Parasites or Disease |
Mass mortality in England due to Goyaulax species bloom (Adams in Reay 1970 in Field 1988) |
| Additional Remarks |
Atlantic species (Ammodytes marinus) will burrow with reduced light (Girsa and Danilov 1987 in Field 1988) |
