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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
In the Gulf of Finland, according to Nordqvist (1910) , adult smelts subsist largely 
upon mysids ( Mysis relicta, M. mixta , and Neomysis vulgaris) , but that they also eat 
little pelagic crustaceans, especially Euytemora herundoides , which form the principal 
food of young smelts. Although bottom crustaceans, such as Pontoporeia affinis, 
and other gammarids are stated to be only rarely found in the stomachs of smelts, 
Idotea entemon is mentioned as smelt food. 
Day (1884) says that it appears to be particularly partial to small fish and 
shrimp, and cites an instance of a “sparling” having been opened as soon as it was 
taken out of the net which was found to contain herring fry. Cunningham (1896) 
says that the English smelt feeds on small fish and Crustacea. Regan (1911) regards 
it as a “greedy fish of prey, feeding on small fishes, shrimps, worms, etc. ” 
At a meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Norris (1868) 
presented a vial containing the stomach contents of a smelt, comprising three shrimp, 
one small fry of some fish, and a half dozen fish ova “not quite as large as those of 
our brook trout. ” He said that the ova had made no progress in the process of 
incubation, from which he inferred that they had been seized by the smelt as soon 
as or not long after they were deposited by the parent fish. 
As indicated by our own observations, the larger individuals subsist largely upon 
crustaceans such as various shrimp and shrimplike forms, amphipods, etc., as well as 
small fishes such as young killifishes, sand eels, etc., much depending upon what the 
other conditions that affect their habits render available. 
Numerous smelts seined at Saltworks Beach, Eastport, Me., on July 27, 1893, 
had their stomachs distended with crustaceans locally known as shrimp (Thysano- 
poda). Again, on July 31 and August 1, 91 specimens seined in the same place as 
the above, measuring in length from 6 to 10 inches, with one specimen 13 inches 
long, were found to contain mostly the previously mentioned shrimplike crustaceans 
(Thysanopoda) and scuds (amphipods — Gammarus). One individual had in its 
stomach one young stickleback (Gasterosteus) and some phosphorescent material. 
In the same year (1893) smelts collected at Freeport, Me., gave the following 
data: On November 8 nine smelts 6 to 7.5 inches long had their stomachs distended 
with young killifishes (Fundulus heteroclitus) and a few shrimp ( Crangon vulgaris) . 
On November 9 seventeen specimens 5.5 to 7 inches long contained killifishes and 
shrimp. On November 10 seven smelts had their stomachs distended with killifishes 
and a few shrimp (Crangon) and scuds (Gammarus). On November 13 seven smelts 
contained killifishes, shrimp, and scuds. On October 24, 1903, nine female smelts 
taken in Casco Bay were mostly empty, but a few contained shrimp (Crangon). 
Smelts taken at Dennysville, Me., on November 5, 1915, had their stomachs 
full of Thysanopoda. One was distended with scuds (Gammarus) and one con- 
tained a young alewife a little over 2 inches long. 
The food of the very young smelt is composed of minute organisms technically 
called “plankton,” consisting mainly of small crustaceans usually referred to as 
Entomostraca. In the first feeding stages the food necessarily is microscopic in size, 
but the fish rapidly attains a size that permits it to feed upon larger entomostracan 
forms. 
