Hypomesus is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of smelts (Osmeridae), consisting of five species found in the northern hemisphere.

The pond smelt

Pond Smelt

Pond Smelt, Hypomesus olidus, is a freshwater species of fish that inhabits the Arctic....

 H. olidus is widespread across norheastern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, and northwestern Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, while the Delta smelt

Delta smelt

Delta smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus, is an endangered slender-bodied smelt, about long, of the Osmeridae family. Endemic to the upper Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary of California, it mainly inhabits the freshwater-saltwater mixing zone of the estuary, except during its spawning season, which...

 H. transpacificus is an endangered species of the Sacramento Delta in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. H. chishimaensis was at one time thought to be a separate species, but has since been identified as a population of H. nipponensis.