Capelin (Mallotus villosus, Lodde, Capelan Atlantiqoe )

Capelin is an Arctic salmon fish that spends most of the year swimming around in the Arctic Ocean, where it feeds on small crustaceans. During the winter and spring, it seeks the large ice masses in towards Finnmark and the coast of Murmansk to spawn

Capelin is an important part of the food chain. The species is found from the surface and down to depths of 300 metres.
Characteristic of the capelin is its slender and almost evenly-high body. There are dark spots along the edges of the small scales. The name "capelin" comes of the male having a strip of hairy scales along its sides during the spawning season.

During spawning, the male holds on tightly to the female with its pectoral and ventral fins and swims down towards the bottom. The majority die after spawning and only a few live to spawn a second time. There is a particularly high mortality rate among the males because of the injuries they sustain.
The capelin is a very important food base for the Norwegian-Arctic cod. Capelin with roe is classified as an edible fish.

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