K72 



SCAMMNAVIAN KISHES. 



hodv with fine spiUs ot hluisli Ijlack piji'iiieiit, more 

 scattered liut Jar<rer in tlie silvery hand. Down the 

 sides tiiese spots become still more dispersed, until they 

 disappear on the belly. The snout, which is otherwise 

 transparent, and tlie tip of the lower jaw bear the 

 densest and largest spots of ijignieiit. The silvery 

 peritoneum gleams through the venti'al sides. The lower 

 part of the tail is transparent, of the same colour as 

 the back, only paler (yellower), and the median line of 

 the l)elly is partly transparent, partly more or less 

 milk-white. The iris is of a silvery lustre, but the 

 upper part of the e\el)all is coated witli a thick, bluish 

 black pigment, which sometimes advances over the top 

 of the iris. In the tins the membrane is transparent. 

 Mild tlie rays are of a lightei- (ji- darker gray, darkest 

 in the caudal and pectoral hus, and, after these, in the 

 anterior part of the dorsal hn. 



()ne of the most noticeable characteristics of the 

 .Smelt — which it possesses, however, in common with 

 the Capelin — is its peculiar odt)ur. Tliis is most 

 powerful in young specimens, and comes nearest to the 

 smell of the cucumber, though not without a trace of 

 violet perfume. It is at all events far from pleasant 

 to the ordinarj' individual, and its seat being the dermal 

 mucus of the iish, it comrauiricates itself to everything 

 with which the Smelt comes in contact. 



The Smelt has an extensive range in the North 

 Atlantic from east to west, for Osmenis morda.r (riri- 

 (lescens), the form belonging to the east coast of North 

 America, can hardly be regarded as a species distinct 

 from our common Smelt. < )n the Atlantic coasts and 

 in the rivers that fall into the Atlantic ( )cean, its oc- 

 currence is, however, confined, generally speaking, to 

 the zone bounded by the 40th and 60th degrees of 

 latitude", though in the Baltic it is found further north, 

 up to the head of tile (nilf of Bothnia. South of France 

 it is unkno\vn, and it is not common south of the 

 north-west of tiiat countr\'; liiit from this region, in- 

 cluding the British Isles and the Continent, up to the 

 south-east of Norway, throughout the greater part of 

 Sweden, in Finland, and in Russia, it (iccurs, and in 

 suitable localities is common, within the basins of the 

 North Sea and the Baltic. In Russia, according to 



(tRimm'', it has also spread to the basin of the Volga. 

 It is really an anadroinous fish, ascending the rivers in 

 order to spawn, and in the southern part of its range 

 its occurrence is alinost exclusively restricted to tidal 

 waters. 15ut in many places it has lieconie a stationary 

 fresh-water fish. In the lakes of Jutland it is fairly 

 common, according to Kroyek, who had also procured 

 specimens from Roskilde Fjord, and records a statement 

 as to its occurrence in Lake Fur (Zealand); but with 

 these exceptions the Smelt is said to be wanting on the 

 Danish islands. In Norway, according to Collett, it 

 is touiid oiilv in Christiania Fjord and in fresh water 

 south of the Dovre Fjeld, though not west of Lake Nord 

 in Telemark; and on the west coast it is said to be 

 wanting''. Accoi-ding to the re[)Orts sent in to the 

 Fisheries Commission of 1881 — 83 the Smelt is wanting 

 in Sweden only within the Governments of Jonkoping'', 

 Kronoberg, Gothland, Blekinge, and Ilalland. Through- 

 out Finland the Smelt is common, up to lat. 66 N. 

 (M.\lm(;i!En); but in the White Sea it is replaced, as 

 we have mentioned, by Osmerus spiiinchus. A singular 

 gap in its geographical range appears in the Baltic 

 within tlie Sound, where it is wanting or at least ex- 

 tremely rare on the Scanian coast, oft' Bornholm, and 

 on the coast of Blekinge. The gap reminds us of a 

 similar lireak in the range of tlie Common Sea-Snail', 

 though the Smelt is by no means an Arctic species. 

 It is especially common in Russia, North Gernianv 

 — particularly in the Haft's — and the Netherlands; 

 and the Smelt fisheries of the Seine and Thames are 

 to Paris and London what the fisherv in the Norr- 

 strom is to Stockholm. In Irish waters tlie Smelt 

 seems to be wanting. 



"The Smelt is of a stupid and sluggish tempera- 

 ment", wrote Eksthum, and this opinion has afterwards 

 been reitei'ated by other writers — "sillv as a, Smelt," 

 is a common Swedish saying. But whv it is thus stig- 

 matized more than other fishes, we cannot say. Gathered 

 in shoals during the spawning, when it is ruled by 

 sexual instincts alone, it is easv to catch like many 

 other fishes: and this is probably the origin of its re- 

 puted stupidity. It is a voracious fish-of-prev — which 

 may easily be seen by its teeth — and its form of body 



" .\ccording to G.MiMard (). c.) the Smell occurs on the coasts of Icehind; but Fabep. liad no information on tliis head. 



' Fishing and Hunting in Russian Waters, p. 20. 



'■ Olsen (Piscatorial Atlas) states, however, that the Smelt occurs in Bucke Fjord oft" Slavanger. 



■' Yet it is found in Lake Wetter. 



<■ Cf. ahove, p. 289. 



