THE SMELTS 
225 
Those from Dennysville and Millbridge were just as they came from the weirs. The 
sexes are shown separately but many of those designated as males were immature 
and perhaps uncertain. 
Locality 
Date 
Sex 
Number 
of indi- 
viduals 
Range in 
size, 
inches 
Approx- 
imate 
average 
Sept. 9,1915 
Male 
26 
4 - 5.2 
4.7 
Female 
6 
4.5-5 
4.8 
Do - - 
Oct. 2, 1908 
Male 
15 
4. 16- 5. 5 
4.8 
Female __ 
12 
5 - 6 
6 . 37 
Do , 
Oct. 31,1907 
Male 
97 
3. 7 - 6. 2 
5 
do 
59 
4. 75- 7. 7 
6 
Female 
81 
5 - 7. 16 
6.1 
4 
5. 3 - 5. 8 
5.4 
Do - 
Nov., 1907 
Male 
50 
4. 5 - 6 
5. 12 
11 
4. 8 - 5. 75 
5.3 
Female 
14 
5 - 5. 75 
5. 38 
do 
4 
5.3-6 
5. 75 
Nov. 6,1915 
Male' 
4. 8 - 6. 75 
5.7 
Female 
30 
5.2-8 
6 
Millbridge, Me 
Dec., 1915 
Male 
128 
3.8-7 
5.6 
Female 
38 
4. 6 - 6. 5 
6.6 
1 Immature specimens thought to be males. 
Smelts bought in the market at Freeport, Me., on October 24, 1903, averaged 
14 to the pound. Among them was one of 10 inches total length, not counted in the 
average. 
For comparison with the foregoing sizes, the total lengths of breeding fish taken 
in a brook flowing into an arm of Casco Bay (at Freeport, Me.) are given as follows : 
Date 
Sex 
Number 
of indi- 
viduals 
Range in 
size, 
inches 
Approxi- 
mate 
average 
Date 
Sex 
Number 
of indi- 
viduals 
Range in 
size, 
inches 
Approxi- 
mate 
average 
Apr. 20, 1903 
Male ... 
6 
6-6.5 
6.2 
Apr. 9, 1925 
Male ... 
30 
5. 9 - 6. 9 
6. 68 
Female . 
6 
5. 7 - 7. 7 
6.7 
Female . 
10 
6. 2 - 9. 2 
8 
Apr. 12, 1924 
Male ... 
101 
6 - 8 
7. 12 
Apr. 10, 1925 
Male ... 
43 
5. 7 - 7. 1 
6. 5 
Female . 
4 
7. 2 - 7. 8 
7.5 
Female _ 
32 
6. 3 -10. 4 
8 
Apr. 13, 1924 
249 
5. 75- 8. 87 
6. 66 
Apr. 16, 1925 . 
Male 
122 
5. 5 - 7. 5 
6. 25 
Female . 
17 
6. 4 - 7. 8 
7.33 
Female . 
55 
5. 9 -10. 25 
7.14 
Apr. 28, 1924 
Male 
23 
6. 4 - 8 
7 
Apr. 21, 1925 . 
23 
5. 65- 8 
6. 4 
Female . 
14 
7. 38-10 
7.7 
Female . 
10 
6. 3 -10 
7.4 
Apr. 29, 1924 
Male 
8 
6. 3 - 7. 33 
6. 9 
Apr. 22, 1925 
74 
5. 85- 8. 35 
6.5 
Female . 
6 
6. 66- 8. 75 
7.25 
Female . 
45 
5. 9 - 8. 75 
6. 75 
Apr. 30, 1924 
Male 
10 
6 - 6. 5 
6. 33 
Apr. 23, 1925 
Male 
45 
5. 8 - 8. 1 
6. 4 
Female . 
26 
6. 2 -10 
8.5 
Female . 
30 
5. 95- 9. 2 
6.9 
May 5, 1924 > 
Male 
80 
6. 3 - 7. 8 
6.8 
Apr. 29, 1925 
15 
6 - 8 
6. 7 
Apr. 1, 1925.. 
...Do.. . 
13 
6. 2 - 8. 7 
7+ 
10 
6.25- 9 
7. 1 
Female . 
i 
10. 4 
May 1, 1925 
Male ... 
16 
5. 9 - 6. 9 
6.3 
Apr. 2, 1925 
Male ... 
45 
6. 2 - 8. 15 
7. 18 
Female . 
15 
6 -10. 15 
7.4 
Female . 
21 
5. 15- 9. 3 
7 
May 2, 1925 
Male ... 
25 
5.5-7 
6.3 
Female . 
35 
5. 5 -10 
6.9 
1 Among 105 smelts taken only 1 female was found. Its total length was 7. 2 inches. 
FOOD 
Writing of the Swedish smelt, Smitt (1895, p. 872) said: 
It is a voracious fish of prey — which which may easily be seen by its teeth — and its form of 
body indicates no lack of agility. * * *. It feeds principally on fish, small or large — at least 
up to half its own size — and especially on herring fry and the young of its own species. Other 
kinds of food, however, such as crustaceans (shrimps and Gammaroids), worms, and larvse, do not 
come amiss. 
