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Osmerus mordax (Mitchill, 1814)

Rainbow smelt
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Osmerus mordax   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Osmerus mordax
Picture by Lyons, J.


Canada country information

Common names: Bay capelin, Bay caplin, Éperlan arc-en-ciel
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: Coker, G.A., C.B. Portt and C.K. Minns, 2001
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Ranges from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts through the Canadian Arctic (Ref. 58426). Originally ranged in the Atlantic coastal drainage, from Labrador southward. Landlocked populations occur in inland waters of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, insular New Foundland, Labrador, Quebec, and eastern Ontario. Occurs in the Great Lakes (Ref. 119192). Introduced into Lake Superior in the early 1930s. Reached commercially harvestable levels by 1952 and eventually replaced lake herring as the dominant planktivore. In 1970, its decline led to the increase in lake herring population (Ref. 9041). Major fishery in New Brunswick. In Lake Erie, large catches mainly taken with otter trawls. The Atlantic smelt commands a high price and are sold whole or in the round. The Great Lakes smelt are usually mechanically processed and sold fresh, frozen, and precooked. Some stockes have also been introduced (Ref. 74657). Also Ref. 6793, 7251, 85409, 86798, 96339, 119194. Status of threat of New Brunswick dwarf population in Lake Utopia: threatened; status declined since 1989. Criteria: 5 (http://fisc.er.usgs.gov/afs/) (Ref. 81264).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.ncr.dfo.ca/home_e.htm
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman, 1973
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Noms communs | Synonymes | Catalog of Fishes(Genre, Espèce) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

> Osmeriformes (Freshwater smelts) > Osmeridae (Smelts)
Etymology: Osmerus: Greek, osme = odorous; similar to freshly cut cucumbers (Ref. 45335);  mordax: mordax meaning biting (Ref. 10294).
  More on author: Mitchill.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Écologie

marin; eau douce; saumâtre; anadrome (Ref. 51243); profondeur 0 - 425 m (Ref. 58426), usually ? - 150 m (Ref. 96339).   Temperate; 6°C - 18°C (Ref. 1998); 73°N - 41°N, 167°W - 53°W (Ref. 86798)

Distribution Pays | Zones FAO | Écosystèmes | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North Atlantic: Atlantic drainages from Lake Melville in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada to Delaware River in Pennsylvania, USA and west through Great lakes. Arctic and Pacific drainages from Bathurst Inlet, Northwest Territories to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Also Pacific drainages of Asia.

Length at first maturity / Taille / Poids / Âge

Maturity: Lm 19.5  range ? - 19.8 cm
Max length : 35.6 cm TL mâle / non sexé; (Ref. 1998); âge max. reporté: 7 années (Ref. 52222)

Description synthétique Morphologie | Morphométrie

Épines dorsales (Total): 0; Rayons mous dorsaux (Total): 8; Épines anales 0; Rayons mous anaux: 12 - 16; Vertèbres: 58 - 70. Body elongate, laterally compressed, greatest depth at anterior of dorsal fin origin. Head moderate; eye moderately large; snout elongate, pointed. Mouth large; lower jaw protruding, maxillary extending to middle of eye or beyond, well toothed on vomer, palatine, pterygoid, basibranchial, dentary, maxillary, and tongue. Teeth specially enlarged on tongue and front of vomer. Body color is pale green on back, with purple, blue, and pink iridescent reflections on the side when freshly caught.

Biologie     Glossaire (ex. epibenthic)

Nerito-pelagic (Ref. 58426). Inhabits cool clear lakes, medium to large rivers, and coastal waters (Ref. 86798). A schooling species that occurs in midwater of lakes or inshore coastal waters (Ref. 1998); at temperatures ranging from 7.2-15.6°C. Coastal population are anadromous (Ref, 86798). Migrates up to 1,000 km upstream in rivers (Ref. 6793). Occurs possibly to 425 m (Ref. 2851). Feeds on invertebrates such as amphipods, ostracods, aquatic insect larvae and aquatic worms (Ref. 1998); food also include copepods, euphausiids, mysids and small fishes (silversides, mummichogs and herring) (Ref. 5951, 10294). Headed, gutted, sold fresh, frozen and precooked. Eaten sautéed and fried (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturité | Reproduction | Frai | Œufs | Fécondité | Larves

Spawning runs occur when temperature is between 8.9-18.3°C, may last for 3 weeks, peak for 1 week. Lengths of both sexes decrease as spawning progress. Two or more tuberculated males maintain position against a female in swift water, eggs released in clusters and presumably milt released simultaneously. Spawning usually takes place at night, spawners move downstream to the lake during daytime.

Référence principale Upload your references | Références | Coordinateur | Collaborateurs

Mecklenburg, K.C., P.R. Møller and D. Steinke, 2011. Biodiversity oif the Arctic marine fishes: taxonomy and zoogeography. Marine Biodiversity 41(1):109-140. (Ref. 86838)

Statut dans la liste rouge de l'IUCN (Ref. 130435)

  Préoccupation mineure (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 March 2012

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Menace pour l'homme

  Harmless




Utilisations par l'homme

Pêcheries: commercial; pêche sportive: oui
FAO(pêcheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Plus d'informations

Noms communs
Synonymes
Métabolisme
Prédateurs
Écotoxicologie
Reproduction
Maturité
Frai
Fécondité
Œufs
Développement de l'œuf
Références
Aquaculture
Profil d'aquaculture
Souches
Génétique
Electrophoreses
Héritabilité
Pathologies
Traitement
Mass conversion
Collaborateurs
Images
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sons
Ciguatera
Vitesse
Type de nage
Surface branchiale
Otolithes
Cerveaux
Vision

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 0.2 - 6.9, mean 2.7 (based on 724 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00407 (0.00328 - 0.00506), b=3.15 (3.08 - 3.22), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Niveau trophique (Ref. 69278):  3.0   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Résilience (Ref. 120179):  Milieu, temps minimum de doublement de population : 1,4 à 4,4 années (K=0.31; tm=2-6; tmax=6; Fec=8,500).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Low to moderate vulnerability (32 of 100).
Catégorie de prix (Ref. 80766):   Low.