sand eels
Slender burrowing fish
Sand eels are small, slender fish that burrow into sandy seabeds, emerging to swim in large schools.
They're a crucial food source for seabirds, marine mammals, and larger fish.
Also called sand lances.
The puffins returned with beaks full of sand eels for their chicks.
- baitfishSmall prey fish for angling
- live baitLiving creature attracting fish
- forage fishSmall prey species
- slenderThin and graceful
- marine mammalsWarm-blooded ocean animals
fishing · fishing nets · spawning · North Atlantic · North Sea · coastal · tidal flats · elongated body · bottom feeders · prey · aquatic · Shetland · terns · marine · larvae · larval stage · ecological niche · commercial fishing
ecological role in food chain
sand eelsapex predators
Dominant hunters, no natural enemies
great white shark · orca · killer whale · tuna · Atlantic cod
sand, eel, sands, eels, sandy, sandiness, sanded, sanding, sandbag