sand eel

American  

noun

1. sand lance.

2. New Zealand. sandfish.

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sand eel British  

noun

1. Popular name: launce.  any silvery eel-like marine spiny-finned fish of the family Ammodytidae found burrowing in sand or shingle

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Etymology

Origin of sand eel

1275–1325; Middle English sandel; see sand, eel

Example Sentences

The sand eel, a small eel-like fish that spends most of the year buried in shallow sediments, plays a key role in this process.

From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2023

British seas have warmed and that has reduced the sand eel population, a particularly bad development for surface-feeders like the kittiwake.

From The Guardian • Oct. 7, 2018

"If the sand eel does not reproduce well this year because of the oil, the birds could be devastated."

From Time Magazine Archive

The lure kicks up sand, which mimics a sand eel burrowing into the bottom.

From Time Magazine Archive

So far had I noted when the left rod, upon which the fly had been replaced by a sand eel, strained for a gallant run.

From Lines in Pleasant Places Being the Aftermath of an Old Angler by Senior, William