Animalia > Chordata > Osmeriformes > Osmeridae > Spirinchus > Spirinchus thaleichthys

Spirinchus thaleichthys (Sacramento smelt; Pacific smelt; Longfin smelt)

Synonyms: Osmerus haleichthys; Osmerus thaleichthys; Spirinchus dilatus
Language: Danish; Finnish; French; Mandarin Chinese; Russian; Salish

Wikipedia Abstract

The longfin smelt, Spirinchus thaleichthys, is a smelt that is found in several estuaries and lakes along the northern Pacific coast of North America. Its most distinctive characteristic is the long pectoral fins that reach nearly to the base of the pelvic fins, and thus inspire the common name. The sides are silver, with the back ranging from an olive to a pinkish shade. The upper jaw is long, reaching nearly to the posterior edge of the eye, and the lower jaw projects slightly in front of the upper jaw. Both jaws have a set of very small teeth. The lateral line is incomplete, reaching back only as far as the dorsal fin. Size is limited to about 20 cm.
View Wikipedia Record: Spirinchus thaleichthys

Attributes

Adult Length [1]  6 inches (15 cm)
Litter Size [1]  24,000
Maximum Longevity [1]  3 years
Migration [2]  Anadromous
Diet [2]  Carnivore
Female Maturity [1]  3 years

Protected Areas

Prey / Diet

Archaeomysis grebnitzkii[3]
Neomysis mercedis[4]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Ascelichthys rhodorus (Rosylip sculpin)1
Psettichthys melanostictus (Pacific sand sole)1

Predators

Phoca vitulina (Harbor Seal)[5]
Uria aalge (Common Murre)[5]

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Pronoprymna petrowi[6]

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Frimpong, E.A., and P. L. Angermeier. 2009. FishTraits: a database of ecological and life-history traits of freshwater fishes of the United States. Fisheries 34:487-495.
♦ 2Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 3Food Web Relationships of Northern Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca : a Synthesis of the Available Knowledge, Charles A. Simenstad, Bruce S. Miller, Carl F. Nyblade, Kathleen Thornburgh, and Lewis J. Bledsoe, EPA-600 7-29-259 September 1979
♦ 4Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 5Szoboszlai AI, Thayer JA, Wood SA, Sydeman WJ, Koehn LE (2015) Forage species in predator diets: synthesis of data from the California Current. Ecological Informatics 29(1): 45-56. Szoboszlai AI, Thayer JA, Wood SA, Sydeman WJ, Koehn LE (2015) Data from: Forage species in predator diets: synthesis of data from the California Current. Dryad Digital Repository.
♦ 6Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0