Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax mordax)

Scientific name: Osmerus mordax mordax Mitchill, 1814

Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax mordax)

The Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax mordax) is a freshwater fish of the family Osmeridae.

Biology

Nerito-pelagic. A schooling species that occurs in midwater of lakes or inshore coastal waters; at temperatures ranging from 7.2-15.6?C. Migrates up to 1,000 km upstream in rivers. Occurs possibly to 425 m. Feeds on invertebrates such as amphipods, ostracods, aquatic insect larvae and aquatic worms; food also include copepods, euphausiids, mysids and small fishes (silversides, mummichogs and herring). Headed, gutted, sold fresh, frozen and precooked. Eaten saut?ed and fried.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Osmerus mordax mordax
Family
Osmeridae (Smelts)
Order
Osmeriformes (Smelts)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
35.6
Depth range
0–425 m (0–1394 ft)
Environment
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; anadromous; depth range 0 - 425 m
Climate
Temperate
Distribution
North Atlantic: Lake Melville, Labrador, Canada to Delaware River, Pennsylvania, (maybe to Virginia), and inland along Saint Lawrence River to Lake Superior. Northwest Pacific: off Russia.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.31; tm=2-6; tmax=6; Fec=8,500)

Sources

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

Last updated