European smelt: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the European smelt lives – recorded in 13 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Osmerus eperlanus
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	13 countries
Continents	Europe
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Osmeriformes
Family	Osmeridae

Where does the European smelt live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the European smelt in 13 countries and territories across Europe. In Russia it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the European smelt endangered?

The European smelt’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the European smelt?

The European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) is a ray-finned fish in the order Osmeriformes and the family Osmeridae, genus Osmerus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the European smelt

The smelt, cucumber smelt, or European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) is a small species of fish in the family Osmeridae, native to coastal areas in Western Europe. They are a regional specialty in some countries, and are also known as sparling within Scotland.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article European smelt (revision 1369958418), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q840795 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).