Summary ²

The capelin or caplin, Mallotus villosus, is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin also eat a great deal of krill and other crustaceans. Whales, seals, cod, squid, mackerel, beluga whales and seabirds all prey on capelin, in particular during the spawning season of the capelin while it migrates southwards....

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=fishes&irn=5008523
2. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallotus_villosus

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• FishBase
• FishSource
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• VertNet
• World Register of Marine Species

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