Ctmner, Flounder, Smelt 269 



THE SMELT 



(^Os merits mordax) 



The smelts were formerly classed with the 

 salmon family, but are now placed in a separate 

 one, ArgentinidcE, in which are included a num- 

 ber of allied species. To all external appear- 

 ances the smelt is a true salmonid, and differs 

 from the trouts and salmon chiefly in the form of 

 the stomach and its appendages. The American 

 or Atlantic smelt was first described by Dr. 

 Mitchill, in 181 5, from the vicinity of New York; 

 he named it mordax, or " biting." Its habitat is 

 along the Atlantic coast from the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence to Virginia, but it is most abundant 

 northward. It is landlocked in a number of 

 northern lakes. 



The smelt is a very pretty, graceful fish, with 

 a long, slender body, long, pointed head, and large 

 mouth, with a somewhat projecting lower jaw. 

 The small adipose fin, which is peculiar to all of 

 the salmonids, is situated far back, opposite the 

 end of the anal fin ; the caudal fin is deeply 

 forked. Its color is pale olive-green above, silvery 

 below, translucent, with an obscure, longitudinal, 

 broad, satin-like band along the sides. The fins 

 are greenish, with a few punctulations. 



