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Osmerus mordax mordax

(American Smelt)

Overview

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Family : Smelts ; A schooling species that occurs in midwater of lakes or inshore coastal waters [1]; at temperatures ranging from 7.2-15.6¦C. Migrates up to 1,000 km upstream in rivers [2]. Occurs possibly to 425 m [3]. Feeds on invertebrates such as amphipods , ostracods , aquatic insect larvae, and aquatic worms [1]. Headed , gutted , sold fresh, frozen and precooked. Eaten sautTed and fried[4].

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Danish:

Amerikansk Smelt

Common Names in English:

American Smelt, Atlantic Pygmy Skate, Atlantic Rainbow Smelt, Bay Capelin, Bay Caplin, Freshwater Smelt, Frost Fish, Leefish, Ooutside Caplin, Outside Capelin, Rainbow Smelt, Smelt, Toothed Smelt, White-Fish

Common Names in German:

Amerikanischer Stint, Regenbogenstint

Common Names in Inuktitut:

Ichloanik, Ilhuagnik, Iquar-Niq, Ithoanin

Common Names in Other:

Qiqotiliqaoraq

Common Names in Spanish:

Eperlano Americano

Description

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Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,179 meters (0 to 3,868 feet).[5]

Biome: Marine .

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Atherina mordax Mitchill • Osmerus dentex (non Steindachner & Kner • Osmerus mordax (Non Mitchill

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Osmerus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 10 species and subspecies in this genus:

O. dentex (Pacific Rainbow Smelt) · O. elongatus (Whitebait Smelt) · O. eperlanus (Atlantic Rainbow Smelt) · O. japonicus (Japanese Smelt) · O. mordax (Atlantic Rainbow Smelt) · O. mordax dentex (Arctic Rainbow Smelt) · O. mordax mordax (American Smelt) · O. nehereus (Bombay Duck (India)) · O. spectrum (Pygmy Smelt) · O. starksi (Night Smelt)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman (1973). Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 184:1-966. [back]
  2. Allen, M.J. and G.B. Smith (1988). Atlas and zoogeography of common fishes in the Bering Sea and northeastern Pacific. NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 66, 151 p. [back]
  3. Mitchill, S.L. (1814). Report in part of Samuel L. Mitchill, M.D., on the fishes of New York. New York. 28 p. (reprinted, 1898 with an introduction and concordance of species by T.N. Gill). [back]
  4. Frimodt, C. (1995). Multilingual illustrated guide to the world's commercial coldwater fish. Fishing News Books, Osney Mead, Oxford, England. 215 p. [back]
  5. Mean = 101.350 meters (332.513 feet), Standard Deviation = 225.240 based on 973 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012