Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Osmeriformes (Smelts) >
Osmeridae (Smelts)
Etymology: Mallotus: Greek for fleecy, derived from mallos = wool, and -otus = a Greek adjectival suffix referring to property; referring to the shape of the scales along the side of breeding males, appearing hairy or fleecy (S.Kullander, pers. Comm.)..
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; anadromous (Ref. 46888); depth range 0 - 725 m (Ref. 58426). Polar; 79°N - 40°N, 180°W - 180°E (Ref. 54574)
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 13.5, range 15 - 19 cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 11626); 25.2 cm TL (female); common length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4645); max. published weight: 52 g (Ref. 56475); max. reported age: 10 years (Ref. 72498)
Circumpolar in the Arctic. North Atlantic: Barents Sea up to Bear Island, in the White and Norwegian seas, off the coast of Greenland up to 74°N and from Hudson Bay in Canada to Gulf of Maine, USA. North Pacific: south to Korea and Juan de Fuca Strait, Canada.
Oceanic species found in schools (Ref. 2850). Nerito-pelagic (Ref. 58426). Adults feed on planktonic crustaceans, copepods, euphausiids, amphipods, marine worms, and small fishes (Ref. 6885, 35388). Mature individuals move inshore in large schools to spawn (Ref. 2850). In the spring large spawning shoals migrate toward the coasts, males usually arrive first. Often entering brackish and freshwater (Ref. 37812). Semelparous (Ref. 51846). Produces 6,000-12,000 adhesive eggs. Females are valued for their roe, males are utilized as fishmeal. Marketed canned and frozen; eaten fried and dried (Ref. 9988). Possibly to 725 m depth (Ref. 6793).
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 336 p.
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial
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Estimates of some properties based on empirical models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 1.0001 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00722 (-0.20927 - 0.22370), b=3.06348 (2.93917 - 3.18780), based on LWR estimates for this family-BS (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 3.2 ±0.3 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
69278): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.3-0.5; tm=3; tmax=10; Fec=6,000).
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (23 of 100) .
