218 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Fresh-water smelts — Continued. page 
Mortality 303 
Enemies 306 
Landlocked salmon 307 
Brook trout 308 
Lake trout 308 
Whitefish 309 
Eels 309 
Black bass 309 
Pike perch 309 
Yellow perch 310 
White perch 310 
Burbot 310 
Parasites 311 
Other animals 313 
Harmfulness of smelt 314 
Fresh-water smelts — Continued. p a ge 
Fresh- water fisheries 319 
Icefish or smelt of Lake Champlain 324 
Smelt fishery of Lake Champlain 329 
Quality and utilization 331 
Fish-cultural propagation 333 
Anatomy of the reproductive structures _ 341 
Fecundity 344 
Character of the eggs 345 
Incubation 345 
Development 346 
Stocking waters or transplanting 349 
Depletion 355 
Conservation 359 
Bibliography 367 
INTRODUCTION 
From early youth the writer has been familiar with the smelt, and to him the 
little fish always has been of intense interest. Some years ago he became imbued 
with ambition to write a monograph on the smelts and smeltlike fishes of the world. 
Every opportunity was grasped for making collections and studying the habits of 
the fish and for compiling all available published information concerning them; but 
during the fleeting years there were so many more or less prolonged interruptions by' 
other work in which smelts had no part that it became necessary to restrain the 
comprehensive ambition and restrict the proposition to a treatise concerning the smelts 
of the Atlantic only, and particularly to those of the eastern United States. 
In the course of the studies it was somewhat surprising to find that almost noth- 
ing was known, or if known had not been published, concerning the habits and life 
history of the smelt. Extensive collections of smelts of the Atlantic coast and inland 
waters of the Eastern States were made, and hundreds of specimens were studied in 
detail in an effort to solve certain problems of relationship and the life history of the 
fish in the interest of the fisheries and fish culture. It is now believed that sufficient 
data are at hand to contribute substantially to the desired solution and knowledge. 
A report upon these phases of the subject is in preparation, but as that report will 
be somewhat technical in nature, and in view of the facts that so little is generally 
known concerning the smelt and such information as has been published is so scat- 
tered, often in brief notes, through many publications, it has been thought desirable 
to bring together in one publication available published and unpublished matter of 
more general interest. This the writer has attempted to do in the present paper. 
As much as possible pertaining to the natural history of the smelt, based upon 
the scattered literature and occasional observations by the present writer, has been 
embodied in the discussions. A brief history of the smelt fishery has been included, 
but it may be regarded as almost “ancient history,” for the reason that there are 
scarcely any data pertaining to the smelt fisheries in the last 10 years excepting in 
Canada. Fish-cultural propagation, depletion, and conservation also are subjects 
that receive some attention. 
