Buckley, J.L. (1989) Species profiles: life histories and environment requirement of coastal fishes and invertebrates (North Atlantic) - rainbow smelt.
U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Biol. 82(11)
| Species | Development state | Trait | Primary Data | Secondary Data |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Egg | Egg size after water-hardening | Fertilized eggs range in size from 1.0-1.2 mm | 1.1 mm |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Egg | Egg Buoyancy | Fertilized eggs are demersal | Demersal |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Egg | Egg adhesiveness | Fertilized eggs are adhesive | Adhesive |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Egg | Incubation time | 29 days [6-7°C], 25 days [7-8°C]; 19 days [9-10°C], 11 days [12°C], 8 days at [16.5°C] | 6.5 days |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Egg | Temperature for incubation | From 6 to 16.5 | 6.0 °C |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Egg | Degree-days for incubation | 29 days [6-7°C], 25 days [7-8°C]; 19 days [9-10°C], 11 days [12°C], 8 days at [16.5°C] | 6.5 °C * day |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Larvae | Initial larval size | 5-6 | 5.5 mm |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Larvae | Larvae behaviour | After hatching, the larvae drift dowstream, where they are concentrated near the surface | Demersal |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Larvae | Reaction to light | Yolk-sac larvae have been reported to be negatively phototactic | Photophobic |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Female | Age at sexual maturity | Mostly 1, 2, 3 depedning on the location [Female] | 1.0 year |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Female | Length at sexual maturity | 8.6-14.1 [Age 1], 13.9-19.2 [Age 2], 16.5-21.3 [Age 3], 18.7-24.5 [Age 4], 20.6-24.5 [Age 5], depending on authors for both sex | 11.35 cm |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Female | Female sexual dimorphism | Females grow faster than males | Absent |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Female | Absolute fecundity | 7-44; 8.5 for a fish of 12.7 cm TL and 65.9 for a fish of 20.9 cm TL | 25.5 thousand eggs |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Male | Age at sexual maturity | Mostly 2-3 [Both sex] | 2.5 years |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Male | Length at sexual maturity | 86-141 [Age 1], 139-192 [Age 2], 165-213 [Age 3], 187-245 [Age 4], 206-245 [Age 5], depending on authors for both sex | 113.5 cm |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning migration distance | Smelt have never been reported more than 2 km from shore or in water depths greater than 6 m | 2.0 km |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning migration period | Spawners usually begin to move into spawning areas before the ice breakup | No data |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Homing | Homing to spawning rivers is rare when distances between rivers within a geographic area such as an estuary are small | Present |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning season | Depending on location, peak spawning occurs in late March through late May | ['March', 'May'] |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning period duration | Individual males may spawn on as many as 8 nights consecutively, whereas females may spawn only 3 to 4 nights | 8.0 weeks |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning temperature | Along the coast, smelt spawn at water temperatures of 4.0 to 9.0°C | 4.0 °C |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning water type | In coastal streams, most smelt spawn above the tide. [Significant positive relationships between survival to the early-eyed stage and increasing water velocity (up to 60-80 cm/s)] | Flowing or turbulent water |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning depth | Water depths at low tide of 0.1 to 1.3 m | 1.3 m |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning substrate | Typically, the substrate in the spawning area of coastal streams in the spawning area is gravel | Lithophils |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Nycthemeral period of oviposition | In coastal waters, smelt spawn at night and most return to the estuary during the day, although some males may remain in the spawning area | Day |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Mating system | Individual fish sometimes spawn in several streams in an estuary during the spawning period | No category |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Spawning release | Individual males may spawn on as many as 8 nights consecutively, whereas females may spawn only 3 to 4 nights | No category |
| Osmerus eperlanus | Spawning conditions | Parity | After spawning, adults return to saltwater to spend the summer in the estuary or in a narrow zone along the coast | Iteroparous |