Overview
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].
Common Names
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 French:
Éperlan à Petite Bouche
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
Family Osmeridae
Anadromous , freshwater (coastal) and marine . Distribution: Northern Hemisphere in Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. No axillary process on pelvics . Pelvic fin rays 8. Principal caudal rays 19; unbranched rays 2. Branchiostegal rays 6-10. Premaxillary and maxillary teeth present. Teeth on inner mouth bones and dentary. Mesocoracoid present. No orbitospehnoid. Pyloric caeca 1-11, or absent. Last vertebra directed upward. Color silvery. About 40 cm maximum length ; most species below 20 cm.The family Osmeridae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes ) and the Order Osmeriformes. It contains 7 genera and 13 species. It may be found in Marine, Brackish , and Freshwater environments and is primarily Peripheral/diadromous. Members of this family are not used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is carangiform . Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be normal. This family may be found from 80° n to 10° s and 180° w to 180° e. Etymology of this family name : Greek, osme = bad smelling
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,179 meters (0 to 3,868 feet).[5]
Biome: Fresh water , brackish water, saltwater . Pelagic .
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
()
- (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Bateson, 1885
- Chordates
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
()
- Cuvier, 1812
- Vertebrates
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
()
- Auct.
- Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass:
Osteichthyes
()
- Huxley, 1880
- Bony Fishes
- Class:
Osteichthyes
()
- Huxley, 1880
- Bony Fishes
- Subclass:
Actinopterygii
()
- Ray-Finned Fishes
- Infraclass:
Actinopteri
()
- Cohort:
Clupeocephala
()
- Order:
Salmoniformes
()
- Suborder:
Osmeroidei
()
- Suborder:
Osmeroidei
(
- Order:
Salmoniformes
(
- Cohort:
Clupeocephala
(
- Infraclass:
Actinopteri
(
- Subclass:
Actinopterygii
(
- Class:
Osteichthyes
(
- Superclass:
Osteichthyes
(
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
(
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
(
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Unambiguous Synonyms
- Atherina mordax Mitchill, 1814
- Osmerus mordax (Non Mitchill, 1814)
Misapplied Names
- Osmerus dentex (non Steindachner & Kner, 1870)
Similar Species
Members of the genus Osmerus
There are approximately 44 species in this genus:
O. abbottii · O. albatrossis · O. albidus · O. arcticus · O. attenuatus · O. mordax subsp. mordax · O. dilatus · O. dvinensis · O. elongatus · O. eperanus · O. eperlanomarinus · O. eperlans · O. eperlanus (European Seabass) · O. eperlanus dentex · O. eperlanus eperlanus · O. eperlanus mordax · O. eperlanus schonfoldi · O. eperlanus spirinchus · O. eperlarus · O. fasciatus · O. hebridicus · O. japonicus · O. lemniscatus · O. microdon · O. mordax (Atlantic Rainbow Smelt) · O. mordax dentex (Arctic Rainbow Smelt) · O. mordax mordax (Atlantic Rainbow Smelt) · O. morday · O. mordox · O. nehereus · O. oligodon · O. pacificus · O. pretiosus · Aulopus filamentosus · O. sergeanti · O. spectrum (Pigmy Smelt) · O. spini · O. spirinchus · O. starksi · O. stevensi · O. thaleichthys · O. villosus · O. virescens · O. viridescens
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- 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.
- Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
- Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
- IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1986. 1986 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
- IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
- International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) (1990). 1990 IUCN red list of threatened animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K. 288 p.
- Klein-MacPhee, Grace / Collette, Bruce B., and Grace Klein-MacPhee, eds. 2002. Smelts: Family Osmeridae. Bigelow and Schroeder's Fishes of the Gulf of Maine, Third Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC, USA. 162-170. ISBN: 1-56098-951-3.
- Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (1991). A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
- Reshetnikov, Y.S., N.G. Bogutskaya, E.D. Vasil'eva, E.A. Dorofeeva, A.M. Naseka, O.A. Popova, K.A. Savvaitova, V.G. Sideleva and L.I. Sokolov (1997). An annotated check-list of the freshwater fishes of Russia. J. Ichthyol. 37(9):687-736.
- Robins, Richard C., Reeve M. Bailey, Carl E. Bond, James R. Brooker, Ernest A. Lachner, et al. 1980. A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada, Fourth Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication, no. 12. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 174.
- Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman (1973). Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 184:1-966.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 5, 2007.
- FishBase
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 18, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 15 providers.
- Matsuura, Keiichi (from FishBase).
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 5580404
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-60064
- Fishbase Species ID: 253
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13598384
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 162043
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 119050
Footnotes
- Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman (1973). Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 184:1-966. [back]
- 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]
- 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]
- Frimodt, C. (1995). Multilingual illustrated guide to the world's commercial coldwater fish. Fishing News Books, Osney Mead, Oxford, England. 215 p. [back]
- 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]
