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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: rainbow smelt
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Scott and Crossman (1973); Becker (1983); Smith (1985); Page and Burr (1991).
Size: 33 cm.
Native Range:
Atlantic drainages from Lake Melville, Newfoundland, to Delaware River, and Pennsylvania; Arctic and Pacific drainages from Bathurst Inlet, Northwest Territories, to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Also, Pacific drainages of Asia (Page and Burr 1991). The origin of Osmerus mordax in Lake Ontario is disputed, as they are thought to be either native or introduced from the Atlantic through the Erie Canal (Mills et al. 1993). Another alternative is that O. mordax migrated downstream from the upper Great Lakes, where it is considered nonindigenous
Nonindigenous Occurrences:
Rainbow smelt occur in all five Great Lakes and also have been introduced or dispersed after introduction into several large rivers. Areas with introduced smelt include the Mississippi River, Arkansas (Pennington et al. 1982; Mayden et al. 1987); reservoirs in the South Platte and Arkansas drainages and headwaters of the Colorado basin in Colorado (Woodling 1985; Propst and Carlson 1986; Rasmussen 1998); several lakes in Connecticut (Webster 1942); the Chattahoochee River below Lake Lanier, Georgia (Dahlberg and Scott 1971a, 1971b); lakes in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho (Linder 1963; Simpson and Wallace 1978); Lake Michigan (Emery 1985; Burr 1991), the Mississippi River, the Illinois River (Burr and Mayden 1980; Mayden et al. 1987; Burr 1991, Burr et al. 1996), and Ohio River (Burr 1991) in Illinois (Smith 1979; Burr and Page 1986); Lake Michigan and the Ohio River near Madison and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana (Emery 1985; Mayden et al. 1987; Tilmant 1999); the Missouri River, Iowa (Harlan et al. 1987; Mayden et al. 1987); the Missouri River, Kansas (Mayden et al. 1987); the Mississippi River, Kentucky (Burr and Warren 1986; Mayden et al. 1987); the Mississippi River, Louisiana (Suttkus and Conner 1980; Mayden et al. 1987); Schoodic Lake, Maine (Havey 1973) and inland waters statewide (Halliwell 2003); Maryland (Ferguson 1876; Jenkins and Burkhead 1994); nonnative waters of Massachusetts (Smith 1833; Hartel 1992; Hartel et al. 1996) such as Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (USFWS 2005); the Great Lakes, Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan (Emery 1985; Tilmant 1999); Lake Superior ,Voyageurs National Park, and Grand Portage National Monument , Minnesota (Emery 1985; Burr and Page 1986; Tilmant 1999); the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, Missouri (Cross et al. 1986; Mayden et al. 1987; Pflieger 1997; Young et al. 1997; Rasmussen 1998); the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, Montana (Gould 1981; Cross et al. 1986; Mayden et al. 1987; Holton 1990); the Missouri River in Nebraska (Cross et al. 1986; Bouc 1987; Mayden et al. 1987) and Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS 2005); several dozen lakes in New Hampshire (Scarola 1973); Lake Erie (Emery 1985), Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes, the Adirondack lakes, Neversink Reservoir, and Lake Champlain in New York (Werner 1980); Tennessee drainage, North Carolina (Menhinick 1991); Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri River, North Dakota (Gould 1981; Bouc 1987; Harlan et al. 1987; Mayden et al. 1987; Holton 1990; Young et al. 1997); Lake Erie, Ohio (Emery 1985); Lake Erie (Emery 1985) and Harvey's Lake (Susquehanna drainage), Pennsylvania (Denoncourt et al. 1975a; Hendricks et al. 1979; Cooper 1983; Hocutt et al. 1986); reservoirs on the Missouri River, Chantier Creek South Dakota (Mayden et al. 1987; Young et al. 1997; Hanten, personal communication; Hull 2005); the Mississippi River, Watauga Reservoir, and South Fork Holston River, Tennessee (Mayden et al. 1987; Etnier and Starnes 1993); Lake Champlain, Vermont (Werner 1980); the Potomac River and Occoquan Reservoir, Virginia (Hocutt et al. 1986; Jenkins and Burkhead 1994); and Lake Superior, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and several other lakes throughout the state of Wisconsin (Emery 1985; Burr and Page 1986; Tilmant 1999; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2003).
Established in Lake Superior at Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada (Yule, personal communication 2005).
Means of Introduction:
The earliest known record is from 1912, when eggs were stocked in Crystal Lake, Michigan, which drains into Lake Michigan (Van Oosten 1937). Fish escaped into Lake Michigan and spread quickly throughout the Great Lakes and their tributaries (Creaser 1926; Gerking 1945; Hubbs and Lagler 1947; Nelson and Gerking 1968; Christie 1974; Eddy and Underhill 1974; Smith 1979; Morrow 1980; Phillips et al. 1982; Cooper 1983; Emery 1985). Early records documenting the smelt's range expansion in the Great Lakes include Lake Michigan, 1923 (Christie 1974; Emery 1985), Lake Erie, 1935 (Cooper 1983; Smith 1985), Lake Huron, 1925 (Christie 1974; Eddy and Underhill 1974), Lake Ontario, 1929 (Christie 1974; Smith 1985), and Lake Superior, 1923 (Emery 1985). The Lake Ontario population may be either native to this lake or migrated downstream, possibly through the Welland Canal. (Emery 1985; Smith 1985). Another possibility is that the species was introduced from the Finger Lakes via the Seneca-Cayuga, Erie and Oswego canals (Smith1985).
Two means have been proposed to explain the introduction of rainbow smelt into the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. It may have spread from Lake Michigan via the Chicago sanitary canal to the Illinois River and then to the Mississippi and Missouri rivers (Burr and Mayden 1980). Alternatively, the species may have gained access to these rivers as a result of a stocking at Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota, in 1971 (Bouc 1987; Mayden et al. 1987; Holton 1990). The second explanation seems more plausible because of a lack of records from the Illinois River. Records of first occurances in other areas include the Mississippi River, Illinois and Kentucky, 1978; Mississippi River, Louisiana, 1979; Mississippi River, Tennessee and Arkansas, 1980; Missouri River, Missouri, 1980; Missouri River, Kansas, 1982 (Mayden et al. 1987). Mayden et al (1987) provided a map of the species' distribution, dates of first observation in new areas, and possible introduction pathways. The species was originally introduced into Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota, as a forage for salmonids (Mayden et al. 1987).
Status: Introduced populations of this species have been very successful and the rainbow smelt is now established in the Great Lakes and in most rivers and lakes where introduced. This species has done so well in the Great Lakes that a commercial fishery targeting smelt has been operating there for many years (Smith 1985). It is the most abundant fish in some samples taken from the Mississippi River (Pflieger 1997). Nevertheless, no adults of the rainbow smelt have been found in either Missouri (Pflieger 1997) or Tennessee (Etnier and Starnes 1993). As such, Pflieger (1997) concluded that populations in Missouri are maintained by continued escape of fish from upstream reservoirs on the Missouri River. As of 1987, only one specimen had been taken from the Ohio River (Mayden et al. 1987). It is considered extirpated in Georgia; the species has not been observed in that state since its release (Dahlberg and Scott 1971b).
Impact of Introduction: In the Great Lakes, rainbow smelt compete with lake herring Coregonus artedii for food (Becker 1983). Christie (1974) supplied some evidence to support this, correlating lake herring decline with smelt increases in most of the lakes. Todd (1986b) also reported that smelt may be partially responsible for the decline of whitefish Coregonus spp. in the Great Lakes. Havey (1973) reported increased growth of landlocked Atlantic salmon following the introduction of smelt as a forage species in a lake in Maine. Hrabik et al. (1998) found evidence of competition for food between introduced rainbow smelt and native yellow perch Perca flavescens in Wisconsin lake habitats. Stedman and Argyle (1985) found the diet of O. mordax to include young-of-the-year fish. The species that were consumed by O. mordax depended upon the prey availability (Stedman and Argyle 1985). Stedman and Argyle (1885) discovered that in Lake Michigan in late October of 1982, O. mordax consumed bloaters (Coregonus hoyi) and alewives (Alosa pseudoharegus). The authors also noted that although O. mordax does not appear to have had an impact on bloater populations in the last five years, future impact is possible. A study on nighttime consumption of O. mordax in Lake Ontario revealed their primary food source to be slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) and opossum shrimp (Mysis relicta) (Brandt and Madon 1986). Juvenile lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) rely heavily on C. cognatus, competing directly with O. mordax, while adult S. namaycush consume O. mordax (Brandt and Madon 1986). The authors point out that S. namaycush may be a keystone predator in the relationship between O. mordax and C. cognatus.
Remarks: This species is eaten by humans and used as bait for salmonids and walleye (Pflieger 1997).
Becker, G. C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI.
Bouc, K. 1987. The fish book. Nebraskaland Magazine 65(1):1-130.
Brandt, S. B. and S. P. Madon. 1986. Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) Predation on Slimy Sculpin (Cottus sognatus) in Lake Ontario. Journal of Great Lakes Research 12(4):322-325.
Burr, B. M. 1991. The fishes of Illinois: an overview of a dynamic fauna. Proceedings of our living heritage symposium. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 34(4):417-427.
Burr, B. M., and R. L. Mayden. 1980. Dispersal of rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax, into the upper Mississippi River (Pisces:Osmeridae). American Midland Naturalist 104(1):198-201.
Burr, B. M., and L. M. Page. 1986. Zoogeography of fishes of the lower Ohio-upper Mississippi basin. Pages 287-324 in C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley, editors. The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.
Burr, B. M., and M. L. Warren, Jr. 1986. A distributional atlas of Kentucky fishes. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission Scientific and Technical Series 4. 398 pp.
Burr, B. M., D. J. Eisenhour, K. M. Cook, C. A. Taylor, G. L. Seegert, R. W. Sauer, and E. R. Atwood. 1996. Nonnative fishes in Illinois waters: What do the records reveal? Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science 89(1/2):73-91.
Christie, W. J. 1974. Changes in the fish species composition of the Great Lakes. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 31:827-854.
Cooper, E. L. 1983. Fishes of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA.
Creaser, C. W. 1926. The establishment of the Atlantic smelt in the upper waters of the Great Lakes. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters 5(1925):405-424.
Cross, F. B., R. L. Mayden, and J. D. Stewart. 1986. Fishes in the western Mississippi drainage. Pages 363-412 in C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley, editors. The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.
Dahlberg, M. D., and D. C. Scott. 1971a. The freshwater fishes of Georgia. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 29:1-64.
Dahlberg, M. D., and D. C. Scott. 1971b. Introductions of freshwater fishes in Georgia. Bulletin of the Georgia Academy of Science 29:245-252.
Denoncourt, R. F., T. B. Robbins, and R. Hesser. 1975a. Recent introductions and reintroductions to the Pennsylvania fish fauna of the Susquehanna River drainage above Conowingo Dam. Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science 49:57-58.
Eddy, S., and J. C. Underhill. 1974. Northern fishes, with special reference to the Upper Mississippi Valley, 3rd edition. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN.
Emery, L. 1985. Review of fish introduced into the Great Lakes, 1819-1974. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Technical Report, volume 45. 31 pp.
Etnier, D. A., and W. C. Starnes. 1993. The fishes of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN.
Ferguson, T. B. 1876. Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries of Maryland to the General Assembly. 1 January 1876. John F. Wiley, Annapolis, MD.
Gerking, S. D. 1945. Distribution of the fishes of Indiana. Investigations of Indiana Lakes and Streams 3:1-137.
Gould, W. R. 1981. First records of the rainbow smelt (Osmeridae), sicklefin chub (Cyprinidae), and white bass (Percicthyidae) from Montana. Proceedings of the Montana Academy of Sciences 40:9-10.Hanten, R.L. - Department. of Game, Fish, and Parks, Pierre, SD. Response to NBS-G nonindigenous questionaire.
Harlan, J. R., E. B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew. 1987. Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, IA. 323 pp.
Hartel, K. E. 1992. Non-native fishes known from Massachusetts freshwaters. Occasional Reports of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Fish Department, Cambridge, MA. 2. September. pp. 1-9.
Hartel, K. E., D. B. Halliwell, and A. E. Launer. 1996. An annotated working list of the inland fishes of Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts, Cambridge, MA (Available from http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/fish/ma_fam.htm. Page accessed March 5, 1998).
Havey, K. A. 1973. Effects of a smelt introduction on growth of landlocked salmon at Schoodic Lake, Maine. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 102(2):392-397.
Hendricks, M. L., J. R. Stauffer, Jr., C. H. Hocutt, and C. R. Gilbert. 1979. A preliminary checklist of the fishes of the Youghiogheny River. Chicago Academy of Sciences, Natural History Miscellanea 203:1-15.
Hocutt, C. H., R. E. Jenkins, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1986. Zoogeography of the fishes of the central Appalachians and central Atlantic Coastal Plain. Pages 161-212 in C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley, editors. The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.
Holton, G. D. 1990. A field guide to Montana fishes. Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Helena, MT. 104 pp.
Hrabik, T. R., J. J. Magnson, and A. S. Mclain. 1998. Predicting the effects of rainbow smelt on native fishes is small lakes: evidence from long-term research on two lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 55:1364-1371.
Hubbs, C. L., and K. F. Lagler. 1947. Fishes of the Great Lakes region. Cranbrook Institute of Science. Bulletin 26:1-186. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Hubbs, C. L., and K. F. Lagler. 1949. Fishes of Isle Royale, Lake Superior, Michigan. Reprinted from Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, volume XXXIII, 1947. Contributions from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, New Series, volume 420.
Jenkins, R. E., and N. M. Burkhead. 1994. Freshwater fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.
Linder, A. D. 1963. Idaho's alien fishes. Tebiwa 6(2):12-15.
Mayden, R. L., F. B. Cross, and W. T. Gorman. 1987. Distributional history of the rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax (Salmoniformes: Osmeridae), in the Mississippi River Basin. Copeia 1987(4):1051-1054.
Menhinick, E. F. 1991. The freshwater fishes of North Carolina. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. 227 pp.
Mills, E. L., J. H. Leach, J. T. Carlton, C. L. Secor. 1993. Exotic Species in the Great Lakes: A History of Biotic Crisis and Anthropogenic Introductions. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 19(1):1-54.
Morrow, J. E. 1980. The freshwater fishes of Alaska. Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, Anchorage, AK.
Nelson, J. S., and S. D. Gerking. 1968. Annotated key to the fishes of Indiana. Project 342-303-815. Department of Zoology, Indiana Aquatic Research Unit, Indiana State University, Bloomington, IN.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. The Peterson Field Guide Series, volume 42. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.
Pennington, C. H., G. J. Dahl, and H. L. Schramm, Jr. 1982. Occurrence of the rainbow smelt in the lower Mississippi River. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences 27:41-42.
Pflieger, W. L. 1997. The fishes of Missouri. Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, MO. 372 pp.
Phillips, G. L., W. D. Schmid, J. C. Underhill. 1982. Fishes of the Minnesota region. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN.
Propst, D. L., and C. A. Carlson. 1986. The distribution and status of warmwater fishes in the Platte River drainage, Colorado. Southwestern Naturalist 31(2):149-167.
Rasmussen, J.L. 1998. Aquatic nuisance species of the Mississippi River basin. 60th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, Aquatic Nuisance Species Symposium, Dec. 7, 1998, Cincinnati, OH.
Scarola, J. F. 1973. Freshwater fishes of New Hampshire. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Division of Inland and Marine Fisheries. 131 pp.
Simpson, J., and R. Wallace. 1978. Fishes of Idaho. University of Idaho Press, Moscow, ID.
Smith, C. L. 1985. The inland fishes of New York State. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY. 522 pp.
Smith, J. V. C. 1833. A natural history of the fishes of Massachusetts. A reprint of the 1833 edition. Freshet Press, Inc., Rockville Center, NY.
Smith, P. W. 1979. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL.
Stedman, R. M. and R. L. Argyle. 1985. Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) as Predators on Young Bloaters (Coregonus hoyi) in Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 11(1):40-42.
Suttkus, R. D., and J. V. Conner. 1980. The rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax, in the lower Mississippi River near St. Francisville, Louisiana. American Midland Naturalist 104(2):394.
Tilmant, J.T. 1999. Management of nonindigenous aquatic fish in the U.S. National Park System. National Park Service. 50 pp.
Todd, T. N. 1986b. Artificial propagation of coregonines in the management of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Arch. Hydrobiol. Beih./Ergebn. Limnol. 22:31-50.
Van Oosten, J. 1937. The dispersal of smelt, Osmerus mordax (Mitchill), in the Great Lakes region. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 66:16-171.
Webster, D. A. 1942. The life histories of some Connecticut fishes. Pages 122-227 in State Board of Fisheries and Game. A fishery survey of important Connecticut lakes. Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey 63.
Werner, R. G. 1980. Freshwater fishes of New York state: a field guide. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Northern Region. 2003. WI DNR Database.
Woodling, J. 1985. Colorado's little fish: a guide to the minnows and other lesser known fishes in the state of Colorado. Colorado Division of Wildlife, Denver, CO. 77 pp.
Young, B. A., T. L. Welker, M. L. Wildhaber, C. R. Berry, and D. Scarnecchia, editors. 1997. Population structure and habitat use of benthic fishes along the Missouri and lower Yellowstone rivers. Annual Report of Missouri River Benthic Fish Study PD-95-5832. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. 207 pp.
Other Resources:
Missouri River Introduced Fish - Rainbow smelt
Distribution in Illinois - ILNHS
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission Maps
Great Lakes Water Life Photo Gallery
Author: Pam Fuller and Erynn Maynard
Contributing Agencies: 
NOAA - GLERL
Revision Date: 1/25/2007 Citation for this information:
Pam Fuller and Erynn Maynard. 2009. Osmerus mordax. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=796> Revision Date: 1/25/2007
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