| Osmeridae (Smelts) |
| 35.6 cm TL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 7 years |
|
pelagic-oceanic; depth range 0 - 425 m, anadromous |
| 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 (Ref. 26334). |
|
Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-8; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 12-16; Vertebrae: 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. |
| Nerito-pelagic (Ref. 58426). A schooling species that occurs in midwater of lakes or inshore coastal waters (Ref. 1998); at temperatures ranging from 7.2-15.6°C. 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). |
|
(Ref. 96402)
|
| harmless |
|
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