European anchovy

Appearance

It is easily distinguished by its deeply cleft mouth, the angle of the gape being behind the eyes. The pointed snout extends beyond the lower jaw. The fish resembles a sprat in having a forked tail and a single dorsal fin, but the body is round and slender. The record weight for a single fish is 49 g. The maximum recorded length is 21 cm. 13.5 cm is a more typical length. It has a silver underbelly and blue, green or grey back and sides. A silver stripe along the side fades away with age.

Naming

This species can be fished from the shore with simpler gear, such as beach seines, and it has been widely-eaten for millennia. has been fished since ancient times. Both the species name, "engraulis", and the specific name "encrasicolus" are common names from Ancient Greek.

Behavior

The species spawn multiply in warm periods from about April to November, depending on when the temperatures are warm enough. At least some local subpopulations have separate spawning grounds, and are thus genetically distinct, although spawning grounds shift. Some spawn in fresh water. The shape of the eggs is ellipsoidal to oval. The eggs float as plankton in the upper 50 m of the water column for about 24–65 hours before hatching. The hatched larvae are transparent and grow rapidly; a year later, in the unlikely event that they survive, they will be 9–10 cm long. The females are larger than the males. When they reach a length of 12–13 cm, they spawn for the first time. A survey in southwestern Africa found no specimens older than three years.

Habitat

The European anchovy is a coastal pelagic species; in summer, it usually lives in water less than 50 m deep, and it may go as deep as 400 m. As it is euryhaline, it can live in water with a salinity of 5–41 PSU. It can therefore live in brackish water in lagoons, estuaries, and lakes.

European anchovies eat plankton, mostly copepods and the eggs and larvae of fish, molluscs, and cirripedes. They are migratory, often travelling northwards in summer and south in winter. They form large schools, and may form bait balls when threatened.

European anchovies are eaten by many species of fish, birds and marine mammals.

Uses

European anchovies are widely eaten. Anchovies are considered an oily fish; they have a salty, strong taste. Some people eat them raw. European anchovies are sold fresh, dried, smoked, salted, in oil, frozen, canned, and processed into fishmeal and fish oil. Their ease of preservation has made them a traditional item for long-distance trade. Anchovies are also used as fishing bait.