Bay Anchovy
Anchoa mitchilli
Anchovies
anchovies_g293
About
Anchovies are small, silvery schooling fish, an important food source for many bigger animals. In this app the group includes the Northern Anchovy, the Bay Anchovy, and the Striped Anchovy.
How to tell it apart
The silver side stripe, blunt snout, and large mouth set anchovies apart from herrings and silversides, which they closely resemble but have a smaller mouth. Members are mostly told apart by size and how slender the body is.
Appearance
An anchovy is small and slender, from about 2 to 40 cm long, with a green back and a shiny silver stripe along its side. It has a blunt snout, a large mouth, and tiny, sharp teeth.
Habitat
Anchovies live in oceans worldwide, mostly in mild, temperate waters, and are rare in very cold or very warm seas. Large schools gather in shallow, muddy areas such as bays and estuaries, and some species live in brackish or fresh water.
Behaviour
Anchovies swim in large, tight schools and are an important food source for many predatory fish, marine mammals, and seabirds.
Diet
Anchovies are filter feeders. They swim with their mouths open, straining plankton and tiny food particles from the water as it passes over their gills.
Did you know?
The ancient relatives of today's anchovies had large fangs and are nicknamed 'saber-toothed anchovies' by scientists.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
