Baitfish are small, schooling fish living close to the surface. Smelt are in the baitfish group along with herring, sandlance and northern anchovy. Baitfish represent a critical connection in food webs in that they are the link between plankton and predatory fish, birds and mammals. Smelt feed on a wide variety of small crustaceans including copepods, amphipods, crab and shrimp larvae. They also feed on marine worms, insects, combjellies and some larval fish.
People often confuse the baitfish, especially since they do resemble each other.
They're all silver and about the same length. However, the similarities end there. Stop in, Marine Center staff will be happy to show you the difference. We do not keep surf smelt, or any of the baitfish, with the exception of occasional sandlances, in our tanks at the Marine Science Center because they survive best in schools and a small school requires larger tanks than we currently have. But, please ask us about them.