BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Osmerus dentex
Rainbow Smelt
| Scientific Name: | Osmerus dentex Steindachner and Kner, 1870 | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Rainbow Smelt | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | F-OSDE | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | GNR | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | SU (May 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Unknown | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Habitat includes brackish water of estuaries, lagoons, coastal shallows, and bays, and fresh water in lowland and piedmont rivers; also lakes or inshore coastal waters; some remain in fresh water throughout their lives. Spawning occurs in freshwater streams in rapids, in clear water, over stone-gravel bottoms, or along lake shores. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: | |||||||||||
| Global Food Habits Comments: | |||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | / / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Range includes the Pacific and Arctic seas off Russia, Alaska, and western Canada (Mecklenburg et al. 2011). North Pacific and Arctic: Wonsan, North Korea and the Sea of Okhotsk to Barkley Sound, British Columbia, north to the Bering Sea and the Arctic; estuaries and coastal waters of European and Siberian shores of Arctic Ocean from White Sea to Chukota in eastern Siberia (from FishBase). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
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| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
| No references available | |||||||||||
Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. Species Summary: Osmerus dentex. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 7, 2026).