Anchovies
anchovies_g293
broadband anchovy
Anchoviella lepidentostole
About
The broadband anchovy is a small inshore fish that moves in schools. It feeds on tiny drifting animals, mostly baby crustaceans and other small invertebrates. Records place it from about 1 m down to 50 m. It is probably anadromous, meaning it runs from the sea up into estuaries and fresh water, though the sources are not certain of this. Most are about 9 cm long; the biggest reach about 16.4 cm and 32 g.
Also known as: anchovy
- Length
- 9 cm · max 16.4 cm
- Weight
- max 32 g
- Depth
- up to 50 m
How to tell it apart
Small silver fish of this size are easy to mix up. Judge the flank band against the eye: here it is as deep as the eye or deeper, so it reads as a wide silver belt rather than a thin line. Check it below the dorsal fin, where the band is at its broadest.
Appearance
A slim fish, fairly long in the body and flattened from side to side. The snout is short and the eye is large. What stands out is the silver band along each flank: below the dorsal fin it is broad, at least as deep as the eye. The anal fin is fairly long and begins about halfway along the base of the dorsal fin.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
