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 to the USA. Landlocked populations occur in inland waters of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, insular New Foundland, Labrador, Quebec, and eastern Ontario. 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, 96339. 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: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html
National Fisheries Authority: https://www.ncr.dfo.ca/home_e.htm
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman, 1998
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Osmeriformes (Smelts) > Osmeridae (Smelts)
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Корюшка зубастая, Éperlan arc-en-ciel, Eperlano arco iris, ... more

Main reference

Mecklenburg, K.C., P.R. Møller and D. Steinke. 2011. (Ref. 86838)
References | Biblio | Coordinator | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 35.6 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1998); max. reported age: 7 years (Ref. 52222)

Length at first maturity
L_m 19.5 range ? - 19.8 cm

Environment

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; anadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 425 m (Ref. 58426), usually ? - 150 m (Ref. 96339)

Climate / Range

Temperate, preferred 2°C (Ref. 107945); 73°N - 41°N (Ref. 26213)

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 (Ref. 26334).
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8; Anal spines: 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).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Least Concern (LC)

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion

Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
PD₅₀ = 0.5625 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
3.0 ±0.0 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.31; tm=2-6; tmax=6; Fec=8,500)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100)

Price category (Ref. 80766)
Low

Osmerus mordax (Mitchill, 1814)