Kebnat

Smelts

Osmeridae · 2 species

In Québec, the family Osmeridae (order Osmeriformes) counts 2 species of fish. The stars? Atlantic Capelin and Rainbow Smelt, the most often observed. The richest region: Bas-Saint-Laurent, with 2 species. Every species has its own page: photos, its season, its habitat and the best places to see it near you.

Species observed by region

Where do the observations come from?

  • Mostly iNaturalist : photos taken by people all over Québec, with the species confirmed by the community.
  • Other public sources : such as eBird for birds and the provincial forest inventories, gathered by GBIF, the global biodiversity data network.
  • What we keep : confirmed observations, with an exact position (not blurred to protect a rare species), that their author allows to be reused.
  • One place counts once : several observations of the same species at the same spot (within 11 m) count as one.
  • So our numbers are lower : than iNaturalist’s total. A region without observations does not mean the species does not live there.

Data downloaded in September 2026.

  1. Bas-Saint-Laurent2
  2. Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean2
  3. Capitale-Nationale2
  4. Côte-Nord2
  5. Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine2
  6. Chaudière-Appalaches2
  7. Mauricie1
  8. Estrie1
  9. Montréal1
  10. Outaouais1
  11. Nord-du-Québec1
  12. Lanaudière1
  13. Laurentides1
  14. Montérégie1
  15. Centre-du-Québec1

Smelts 2

Osmeriformes
All166Cypriniformes36Perciformes31Salmoniformes17Gadiformes10Centrarchiformes8Acanthuriformes6Carangiformes6Siluriformes6Clupeiformes5Lamniformes4Petromyzontiformes4Scombriformes4Acipenseriformes2Anguilliformes2Atheriniformes2Cyprinodontiformes2Gobiiformes2Hiodontiformes2Labriformes2Osmeriformes2Rajiformes2Squaliformes2Syngnathiformes2Amiiformes1Beloniformes1Carcharhiniformes1Lepisosteiformes1Lophiiformes1Percopsiformes1Tetraodontiformes1
Osmeridae
All2Osmeridae2
Atlantic Capelin5,389 observations
Rainbow Smelt4,839 observations