''Spirinchus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''A ...

s (

Osmeridae Smelts are a family of small fish, the Osmeridae, found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, as well as rivers, streams and lakes in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. They are also known as freshwater smelts or typical smelts ...

) from the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent streams.

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus: * ''

Spirinchus lanceolatus , or ''Spirinchus lanceolatus'', is an anadromous fish (smelt) native to Hokkaido, Japan. Description This fish averages 15 centimeters in length, with a maximum recorded length of 70 cm. It is generally dark on the back with a silver-white u ...

'' ( Hikita, 1913) * '' Spirinchus starksi'' ( Fisk, 1913) (Night smelt) * ''

Spirinchus thaleichthys ''Spirinchus'' is a genus of smelts (Osmeridae Smelts are a family of small fish, the Osmeridae, found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, as well as rivers, streams and lakes in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. They are ...

'' ( Ayres, 1860) (Longfin smelt)

References

* Extant Pliocene first appearances Marine fish genera Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Barton Warren Evermann {{Osmeriformes-stub