Rainbow Smelt - Distribution and Habitat

Distribution and Habitat

The rainbow smelt is widespread across North American watersheds. The North American native range of the rainbow smelt extends through the Atlantic drainages between New Jersey and Labrador to Arctic drainages, and the Pacific drainages as far south as Vancouver Island. The rainbow smelt has been introduced into water bodies in the U.S. states of Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Landlocked populations were historically known in Maine, and fish from one of these populations were introduced to Crystal Lake, Michigan and then spread to the Great Lakes.

Rainbow smelt invaded the Great Lakes watershed through an intentional introduction of eggs to Crystal Lake in 1912. This lake drains into Lake Michigan, from which fish escaped into Lake Michigan and spread quickly throughout the Great Lakes and their tributaries. Early records documenting the smelt's range expansion in the Great Lakes include Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, and Lake Superior. Rainbow smelt were first reported from Lake Ontario in 1929, and probably reached it by dispersal along natural waterways from the Finger Lakes, New York, where they were intentionally introduced in 1917. The ability of rainbow smelt to disperse is determined by the connectivity of lakes, the ability of smelt to move through connecting streams, and the suitability of connected lakes as habitat. Rainbow smelt are weak swimmers so they cannot make it over fish ladders. This has helped to prevent an even wider spread of their range.

Rainbow smelt occur in rivers, coastal areas and ponds. In their anadromous territories, they spend the summers along the coast, normally in waters no more than 20 feet (6.1 m) deep and no more than 1 mile (1.6 km) from shore. They overwinter under the ice in estuaries, producing an antifreeze protein and glycerol. In the spring, they spawn at night in small streams, often ones that go dry in the summer.