Arctic rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax dentex)

Scientific name: Osmerus mordax dentex Steindachner & Kner, 1870

Arctic rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax dentex)

The Arctic rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax dentex) is a freshwater fish of the family Osmeridae.

Biology

Inhabits brackish water of estuaries, lagoons, coastal shallows and bays, and fresh water in lowland and piedmont rivers. A schooling species that inhabits lakes or inshore coastal waters. Pelagic at the sea where it occurs at 4-8 m depth. In the spring, it leaves the sea or the lake and ascends freshwater streams to spawn. Some remain in fresh water throughout their lives; those that enter the sea stay within 8 to 10 km of the shore and probably do not stray far along the coast from the estuary. Spawns in rapids, in clear water, over stone-gravel bottom and at depth of 0.2-0.5 m. Possibly found up to 425 m depth. Young-of-the-year feed mostly on copepods and cladocerans, also rotifers, eggs and algae; adults feed on small crustaceans, fishes and shellfish, also squid, w

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Osmerus mordax dentex
Family
Osmeridae (Smelts)
Order
Osmeriformes (Smelts)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
34.0
Common length
14.9
Depth range
0–290 m (0–951 ft)
Environment
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous; depth range 0 - 290 m
Climate
Polar
Distribution
North Pacific and Arctic: Wonsan, North Korea and the Sea of Okhotsk to Barkley Sound, British Columbia, north to the Bering Sea and the Arctic. Estuaries and coastal waters of European and Siberian shores of Arctic ocean from White Sea to Chukota in eastern Siberia.
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=2-3; tmax=7; Fec=1,700)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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