Anchovies
anchovies_g293
Cayenne anchovy
Anchoviella cayennensis
About
The Cayenne anchovy is a small silver fish of coastal water and estuaries. It copes with a wide range of saltiness, which lets it live where rivers meet the sea and the water changes from day to day. Most are about 9 cm long and the biggest reach about 13.5 cm.
- Length
- 9 cm · max 13.5 cm
How to tell it apart
Small silver fish of this size all look alike in open water. Look along the flank: the silver band here has a clear dark edge along its upper side, so it reads as a stripe with a line above it rather than as plain silver flanks. That border is a fixed marking and does not depend on the light.
Appearance
A slim fish with a body that is only slightly flattened from side to side. A bright silver stripe runs along each flank, and the top edge of that stripe is marked by a darker border. The snout is short and blunt, and the eye is large for the size of the head. The anal fin starts just behind the end 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.
