capelin

capelin
/kap"euh lin/, n.
either of two small fishes of the smelt family, Mallotus villosus, of coastal North American waters, or M. catervarius, of the North Pacific.
Also, caplin.
[1610-20, Amer.; < MF capelan < OPr: codfish, lit., CHAPLAIN]

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▪ fish
      (Mallotus villosus), marine food fish, a species of smelt, in the family Osmeridae (order Osmeriformes). The capelin is an inhabitant of cold Arctic seas around the world but extends southward to coastal waters in the northern temperate regions. Unlike many other species of smelt, the capelin does not enter freshwater to spawn but lays its eggs instead close inshore, even on the wave-washed gravel of beaches. Like other smelt, however, capelin are sleek, slender fishes with olive-green backs and silvery white bellies. They have small scales and large eyes and do not reach lengths of more than about 20 cm (8 inches). Capelins are exceedingly abundant and are eaten by a great variety of other fishes, seabirds, and mammals.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • capelin — [kap′ə lin΄] n. pl. capelin or capelins [CdnFr < Fr capelan, codfish: jocular use of OProv capelan, chaplain] a small, slender smelt fish (Mallotus villosus) of northern seas, used as food and esp. as bait …   English World dictionary

  • Capelin — Cape lin, n. [Cf. F. capelan, caplan.] (Zo[ o]l.) Either of two small marine fishes formerly classified in the family {Salmonid[ae]}, now within the smelt family {Osmeridae}: {Mallotus villosus}, very abundant on the coasts of Greenland, Iceland …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Capelin — This article is about the fish. For the plant genus, see Mallotus (plant). Capelin Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia …   Wikipedia

  • Capelin — Lodde Lodde (Mallotus villosus) Systematik Klasse: Knochenfische (Osteichthyes) Unterklasse …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Capelin — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. capelin, porc élevé traditionnellement et nourri avec des châtaignes capelin, nom vernaculaire utilisé pour désigner un poisson marin, le capelan… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • capelin — /ˈkæpələn/ (say kapuhluhn) noun (plural capelin or capelins) either of two small fishes of the smelt family, of the North American coasts of the Atlantic (Mallotus villosus) and Pacific (M. catervarius). {French caplan, capelan, probably from… …  

  • capelin — paprastoji stintenė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Mallotus villosus angl. capelin; lodde rus. дальневосточная мойва; уёк ryšiai: platesnis terminas – stintenės …   Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas

  • capelin school — capelin scull …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • Capelin (poisson) — Capelan Pour les articles homonymes, voir Mallotus …   Wikipédia en Français

  • capelin — noun Etymology: Canadian French capelan, from French, codfish, from Old Occitan, chaplain, codfish, from Medieval Latin cappellanus chaplain more at chaplain Date: 1620 a small northern sea fish (Mallotus villosus) of the smelt family …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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