Updated 26 Dec. 2024
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Allosmerus Hubbs 1925 állos (Gr. ἄλλος), other, i.e., another genus of Osmerus, type genus of family, “intermediate in most respects” between that genus and Thaleichthys

Allosmerus elongatus (Ayres 1854) Latin for prolonged, referring to its “elongated and compressed” form or body shape

Hypomesus Gill 1862 hypó (Gr. ὑπό), under or beneath; mésos (Gr. μέσος), middle, referring to position of ventral fins “nearly under middle” of dorsal fin of H. pretiosus

Hypomesus japonicus (Brevoort 1856) –icus (L.), belonging to: Japan, named from an illustration of a specimen taken from Hakodate, Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, during the U.S. Japan Expedition (1852–1854) under the command of Matthew C. Perry

Hypomesus nipponensis McAllister 1963 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nippon, or Japan, where it is native to lakes and estuaries of Hokkaido (now established in California, USA)

Hypomesus olidus (Pallas 1814) Latin for smelly or rank, “smells very bad” (translation), referring to its cucumber-like odor (some references say olidus means oily; while the fish does have oily flesh, this translation is incorrect)

Hypomesus pretiosus (Girard 1854) Latin for of great value, presumably referring to its delicate flavor

Hypomesus transpacificus McAllister 1963 -icus (L.), belonging to: trans (L.), over or beyond, referring to the belief (now incorrect) that it occurs on both sides of the Pacific, and “to the friendship of Japanese and Canadian ichthyologists”

Mallotus Cuvier 1829 mallōtós (Gr. μαλλωτός), fleecy or woolly, referring to band of elongate scales along lateral line and middle of belly of breeding males, which appear to be hairy

Mallotus catervarius (Pennant 1784) Latin for of or pertaining to a crowd, presumably referring to its occurrence in “immense shoals” on the eastern coast of Kamchatka, Russia

Mallotus villosus (Müller 1776) Latin for woolly or shaggy, referring to band of elongate scales along lateral line and middle of belly of breeding males, which appear to be hairy

Osmerus Linnaeus 1758 osmḗrēs (Gr. ὀσμήρης), odorous, referring to their cucumber-like odor [the vernacular “smelt” does not refer to this curious smell, but instead may derive from the Old Dutch smalt, meaning grease or melted butter, referring to how the oily flesh of O. eperlanus gives it a “melt in your mouth” texture]

Osmerus dentex Steindachner & Kner 1870 from dens (L.), tooth, referring to strong fang-like teeth on tongue and front of vomer

Osmerus eperlanus (Linnaeus 1758) Latinization of the Old French éperlan, a vernacular name applied to small edible fishes that migrate to fresh water to spawn

Osmerus eperlanus schonfoldi McAllister 1984 first available treatment of “Eperlanus Schonfoldii” of Rutty 1772 (named but not described), patronym not identified, possibly in honor of Dutch naturalist Stephan Schonevelde (d. 1632, also spelled Schonefeld, Schone Velde, Schoenfeld, and presumably Schonfold), whose 1624 book on marine animals is cited by Rutty

Osmerus mordax (Mitchill 1814) Latin biting, referring to strong fang-like teeth on tongue and front of vomer, a “formidable apparatus for a small fish”

Osmerus mordax spectrum Cope 1870 Latin for spectre or apparition, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its translucent color in life

Spirinchus Jordan & Evermann 1896 a 1657 name for smelt used by Polish scholar and physician John Jonston (1603–1675, writing as Johannes Jonstonus), possibly a Latinization of spirinche, a 17th-century Anglo-Saxon word for smelt, itself possibly derived from the Middle English sperlinge, Old French esperlinge, or Old Dutch spierling; per Moyle (Inland Fishes of California, 2002), the name means “breath-beginning” (spiro [L.], to breathe; inchoatus [L.], begun) and refers to the “conspicuous duct that connects the air bladder (=lung) to the gut,” but we doubt this explanation since physostomus gas bladders are common in fishes, and because the name appears to have a clear relationship to similar names of Teutonic origin

Spirinchus lanceolatus (Hikita 1913) Latin for lance-like, referring to its lanceolate shape, like that of a willow leaf

Spirinchus starksi (Fisk 1913) in honor of American ichthyologist Edwin Chapin Starks (1867–1932), Stanford University (California, USA), for his “able assistance” in the preparation of Fisk’s paper

Spirinchus thaleichthys (Ayres 1860) presumably named for its similarity to Thaleichthys pacificus, a related species with a similar flavor; Ayres said this species “presents an entire blending of the characters on which Girard proposed to separate” Thaleichthys from Osmerus

Thaleichthys Girard 1858 etymology not explained, perhaps derived from thállein (Gr. θάλλειν), to flourish, referring to what Richardson in his description of T. pacifucus said were “immense shoals” of the fish during its freshwater spawning runs along the Pacific Coast of North America; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Thaleichthys pacificus (Richardson 1836) –icus (L.), belonging to: Pacific Ocean, referring to its distribution along the Pacific Coast of North America, from the Bering Sea to southern California (USA)