Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderOsmeriformes
FamilyOsmeridae
GenusHypomesus
Other Common Names
Éperlan argenté (FR)
Concept Reference
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
Originally two subspecies were recognized by McAllister (1963): H. P. PRETIOSUS of North America and H. P. JAPONICUS of coastal Asia. These subspecies were raised to species status by Klyukanov (1975) (Lee et al. 1980). Eschmeyer and Herald (1983) retained JAPONICUS as a subspecies of PRETIOSA. See Begle (1991) for a classification and phylogeny of osmeroid fishes based on morphology.
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-09-12
Change Date1996-09-12
Range Extent Comments
North American form ranges from Long Beach, California (rare south of San Francisco), north to Olsen Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska. Asian form ranges from Wonsan, Korea, to Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka, and Udskaya Gulf, Sea of Okhosk, (former) USSR (Lee et al. 1980); Korea to Alaska, according to Eschmeyer and Herald (1983).
Ecology & Habitat
Habitat
Marine, sometimes in brackish water, rarely in fresh water (Sandy River, Oregon); in midwaters in deep scattering layer (Lee et al. 1980). Spawns on sand and gravel beaches in light to moderate surf, during incoming or high tide.
Ecology
Preyed upon by chinook salmon.
Reproduction
Spawns in daylight during most of the year. Female lays 1,320-29,950 adhesive eggs. Eggs may hatch in 10-11 days, or more in fall and winter (Lee et al. 1980). Apparently females spawn more than once in a season (Morrow 1980). Lives maximum of 2-3 years.
Begle, D. P. 1991. Relationships of the osmeroid fishes and the use of reductive characters in phylogenetic analysis. Systematic Zoology 40:33-53.
Eschmeyer, W. N., and E. S. Herald. 1983. A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 336 pp.
Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp.
Morrow, J.E. 1980. The freshwater fishes of Alaska. Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, Anchorage, AK. 248 pp.
Moyle, P. B. 2002. Inland fishes of California. Revised and expanded. University of California Press, Berkeley. xv + 502 pp.
Nelson, J. S., E. J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Perez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, and J. D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland. 386 pp.
Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland.
Page, L. M., K. E. Bemis, T. E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, K. E. Hartel, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, M. A. Neigbors, J. J. Schmitter-Soto, and H. J. Walker, Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eighth edition. American Fisheries Society (AFS), Special Publication 37, Bethesda, Maryland, 439 pp.
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.