Stokell's smelt

Stokells smelt
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Retropinnidae
Family:	Osmeriformes
Genus:	Stokellia
Species:	S. anisodon
Binomial name
Stokellia anisodon (Stokell, 1941)

Stokells smelt (Stokellia anisodon) is a smelt of the genus Stokellia, found only in rivers between the Waiau and Waitaki Rivers on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Their length is between 7 and 9 centimetres.

Stokells smelt is the second of the two smelt species found in New Zealand, the other being the common smelt which it superficially resembles. Stokells smelt has smaller and more scales than the common smelt. It has a small, fleshy, adipose fin which can be used to distinguish smelt from the galaxiids, and smelt can be distinguished from the salmonids because they do not have a lateral line.

Stokells smelt is a strictly coastal species and is never found very far inland, probably spending most of its life in the marine environment. They enter fresh water to spawn in late spring and summer, and can be extremely abundant at times.

References

• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2006). "Stokellia anisodon" in FishBase. March 2006 version.