night smelt
Spirinchus starksi (Fisk, 1913)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Night smelt (Spirinchus starksi) is a true smelt of the northern family Osmeridae and part of the larger order Osmeriformes. The family of the true smelt consists of 12 species; 7 of which are native to California's estuary and coastal waters. The night smelt is one of the three extant (still existing) species in the Spirinchus genus, along with the Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) and the shishamo (Spirinchus lanceolatus), native to northern Japan. It is native to the Pacific coast of North America ranging from Point Arguello, California, northward to Shelikof Bay, southeast Alaska. They spawn nocturnally over coarse sand beaches in the surf zone, from Point Arguello in central California to southeast Alaska. Little is known about the night smelt because it is considered an enigmatic species, and has not been heavily studied.
Wikipedia contributors, Night smelt; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:54:22.110467+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Spirinchus starksi (Fisk, 1913)
- Name authority
- (Fisk, 1913)
- Common name
- night smelt
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Osmeriformes
- Family
- Osmeridae
- Genus
- Spirinchus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderOsmeriformes
- suborderOsmeroidei
- familyOsmeridae Regan, 1913
- genusSpirinchus Jordan & Evermann, 1896
- speciesSpirinchus starksi (Fisk, 1913)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Spirinchus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Spirinchus lanceolatus (Hikita, 1913) | OsmeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| longfin smeltSpirinchus thaleichthys (Ayres, 1860) | OsmeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Spirinchus starki (Fisk, 1913) (Fisk, 1913) | synonym |
| Osmerus starksi Fisk, 1913 Fisk, 1913 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=282843 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4Z7D8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.