The Pacific rainbow smelt (Osmerus dentex), also known as the Arctic rainbow smelt or cucumber fish in Japan,[citation needed] is a North Pacific species of fish of the family Osmeridae. The fish usually lives in marine and brackish environment, with a wide distribution from North Korea, Sea of Okhotsk to Bering Sea and British Columbia.[2] They are also seen in estuaries and coastal waters of European and Siberian shores of Arctic Ocean from White Sea to Chukota in Russian Far East.[3]
| Pacific rainbow smelt | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Osmeriformes |
| Family: | Osmeridae |
| Genus: | Osmerus |
| Species: | O. dentex
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| Binomial name | |
| Osmerus dentex Steindachner & Kner, 1870
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Description
editThe Pacific rainbow smelt has a cylindrical elongated body shape, with lengths ranging between 14 and 16 centimetres (5.5 and 6.3 in).[4] The body color is mostly silver. They usually prey on plankton and squid.[3]
Life cycle
editPacific rainbow smelt usually return to their natal streams to spawn when the water temperature reaches 2 degree Celsius and above, but the degree of homing varies from one population to another and may be genetically controlled.[5] Movement to spawning grounds are usually made at night when the spawning group crowd together and move upstream.[6] The whole spawning usually lasts several hours each night for several nights.[7] Many spawned-out fish, especially males, die after spawning, but those that survive would spawn again in the following year.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Reference Summary - IUCN, 2022". fishbase.mnhn.fr. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Allen, M., James (April 1988). Atlas and zoogeography of common fishes in the Bering Sea and Northeastern Pacific. The United States of America: National Marine Fisheries Service. p. 151. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ a b Kottelat, Maurice; Freyhof, Jörg (2007). Handbook of european freshwater fishes. Cornol: Publications Kottelat. p. 6466. ISBN 978-2-8399-0298-4. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Katalog morskich i presnovodnych ryb severnoj časti Ochotskogo morja. Vladivostok: Dalʹnauka. 2003. p. 204. ISBN 5-8044-0308-7. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Rupp, Robert S.; Redmond, Malcolm A. (March 1966). "Transfer Studies of Ecologic and Genetic Variation in the American Smelt". Ecology. 47 (2): 253–259. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Osmerus dentex Steindachner & Kner, 1870". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Rupp, Robert S. (April 1965). "Shore-Spawning and Survival of Eggs of the American Smelt". Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 94 (2): 160–168. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Morrow, James Edwin (1980). The freshwater fishes of Alaska. pp. 217–241. Retrieved 14 November 2023.