Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Saltwater Fish - Macaw Pets store

A member of the smelt family, the capelin is an important
food fish for cod, pollock, salmon, seabirds, and whales. It
has commercial value; females are prized for their roe, and
the meat is used as animal feed and fish meal. Like other
smelt in flavor and texture, it is an excellent table fish, marketed
canned and frozen and prepared by frying and dry
salting.
Identification. The capelin has a large mouth with a lower
jaw that extends below each eye. Males have larger and
deeper bodies than do females; also, the male has an anal
fin with a strongly convex base, whereas the female has a
straight anal fin base. Both sexes possess a single dorsal fin
and extremely small scales. The body is mostly silver, and
the upper back is a darker bluish-green.
Size/Age. Capelin may reach a size of 9 inches, although
they are usually less than 7 inches long.
Life history/Behavior. Between March and October,
capelin move inshore in large schools to spawn in shallow
saltwater areas over fine gravel or on sand beaches; however,
some may spawn at great depths. Spawning occurs
more than once, and each female produces between 3,000
and 56,000 eggs; these are released at high tide and hatch
in 2 to 3 weeks.
Food and feeding habits. Capelin feed primarily on
planktonic crustaceans.
Capelin
Mallotus villosus
OTHER NAMES
Danish/Dutch/German/
Norwegian: lodde; French:
capelin atlantique; Japanese:
karafuto-shishamo.
Distribution. Capelin are
found in the North Atlantic,
especially in the Barents Sea
up to Beard Island; in the
White and the Norwegian
Seas; off the coast of Greenland;
and from Hudson Bay
to the Gulf of Maine. In the
North Pacific, their range
extends from Korea to the
Strait of Juan de Fuca
between Vancouver Island,
Canada, and Washington,
U.S.
Habitat. Inhabiting saltwater,
capelin are pelagic
and live in the open seas.
Capelin 51