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Thaleichthys pacificus is a fish belonging to the smelt family that occurs over coastal sea floors and in coastal bays.
Adult animals live at moderate depths (usually 20-200 meters, but depths of 625 meters have also been recorded) in the echo sounder layer not far from the coast, while the young apparently live in deeper water.
This species spawns in freshwater rivers near the coast over bottoms of mud, sand, gravel, cobble or boulders, but apparently prefers bars and riffles with sand or pea gravel, rarely more than a few miles inland).
The presence of spring spawning grounds is a factor common to almost all spawning streams or rivers, and is typical of rivers draining large snow masses or glaciers.
There is now evidence, as with salmon and trout, of return migration to natal rivers, with individuals migrating up to 160 km upstream.
Spawning migration from the sea into freshwater rivers begins when the river temperature rises to about 4.4°, but the fish stop migrating when the temperature exceeds 7.8°C. Males predominate at the beginning of the spawning migration, but their numbers are later matched or exceeded by females.
The adults usually die after spawning, but some migrate back to the sea and return a second time to spawn.
After hatching, the larvae are found near the bottom and are soon carried downstream into salt water and finally found in the litter layer of coastal waters.
The candlefish is an excellent food fish and a good source of oil (15% of body weight).
We thank Philip Kline, Placitas, New Mexico, for the first photo of Thaleichthys pacificus, taken near Longview, Washington, USA.
Our thanks for the swarm photo go to Zolt Smack, also from iNaturalist
Synonyms:
Lestidium parri Chapman, 1939 · unaccepted
Osmerus albatrossis Jordan & Gilbert, 1898 · unaccepted
Osmerus pacificus (Richardson, 1836) · unaccepted
Salmo pacificus Richardson, 1836 · unaccepted
Thaleichthys stevensi Girard, 1858 · unaccepted
Adult animals live at moderate depths (usually 20-200 meters, but depths of 625 meters have also been recorded) in the echo sounder layer not far from the coast, while the young apparently live in deeper water.
This species spawns in freshwater rivers near the coast over bottoms of mud, sand, gravel, cobble or boulders, but apparently prefers bars and riffles with sand or pea gravel, rarely more than a few miles inland).
The presence of spring spawning grounds is a factor common to almost all spawning streams or rivers, and is typical of rivers draining large snow masses or glaciers.
There is now evidence, as with salmon and trout, of return migration to natal rivers, with individuals migrating up to 160 km upstream.
Spawning migration from the sea into freshwater rivers begins when the river temperature rises to about 4.4°, but the fish stop migrating when the temperature exceeds 7.8°C. Males predominate at the beginning of the spawning migration, but their numbers are later matched or exceeded by females.
The adults usually die after spawning, but some migrate back to the sea and return a second time to spawn.
After hatching, the larvae are found near the bottom and are soon carried downstream into salt water and finally found in the litter layer of coastal waters.
The candlefish is an excellent food fish and a good source of oil (15% of body weight).
We thank Philip Kline, Placitas, New Mexico, for the first photo of Thaleichthys pacificus, taken near Longview, Washington, USA.
Our thanks for the swarm photo go to Zolt Smack, also from iNaturalist
Synonyms:
Lestidium parri Chapman, 1939 · unaccepted
Osmerus albatrossis Jordan & Gilbert, 1898 · unaccepted
Osmerus pacificus (Richardson, 1836) · unaccepted
Salmo pacificus Richardson, 1836 · unaccepted
Thaleichthys stevensi Girard, 1858 · unaccepted
