The sand smelt (''Atherina presbyter'') is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Atherinidae The Old World silversides are a family, Atherinidae, of fish in the order Atheriniformes. Atherinidae are abundant and considered bony fish (teleost) that are widespread globally, living in rivers, estuaries, and coastal waters. They occur worldw ...

, the silversides. This species is found in the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean

Taxonomy

The sand smelt was first formally described in 1829 by the French

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

with its type locality given as the Atlantic coast of France. This species is classified in the genus '' Atherina'' in the silversides family, Atherinidae.

Etymology

The sand smelt is a member of the gensu ''Atherina'', this name is derived from an ancient name for the Mediterranean sand smelt (''A. hepstus''), ''atherine'', which can be dated at least as far back as

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''presbyter'', means an elder or minister of the Christian Church, this is a latinisation of the French

vernacular name Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken form of language, particularly when perceived as having lower social status or less prestige than standard language, which is more codified, institutionally promoted, literary, or formal. More n ...

for this fish, ''prêtre'', which means "priest", the name given to this fish because there is a silvery band on the flanks, which was taken to resemble a stole.

Distribution and habitat

The sand smelt is found in the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean from the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

and Scotland south to Mauritania and into the Western Mediterranean, its range includes the

Macaronesian Islands Macaronesia (; ) is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of Atlantic oceanic islands, which were formed by seamounts on the ...

, although it is not recorded from the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. The sand smelt is a pelagic species of estuaries and coastal areas.

Biology

Sand smelt 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 The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

and the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

takes place over midsummer. Sand smelt generally live in semi-isolated populations around river estuaries. A population living around the entrance to

Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed we ...

was found to spawn in the April–June period within inshore algae beds before moving out into the deeper waters of the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...

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

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q254565 Atherina Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fish of the North Sea Fish of Europe Fish described in 1829 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier