United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Anchovy, Bay anchovy, Northern anchovy
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: abundant (always seen in some numbers) | Ref: Kucas, S.T., 1986
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: restricted | Ref:
Uses: bait: yes;
Comments: Used as food, as live or dead bait, as feed for fish hatcheries and mink farms, and as industrial fish meal and oil. In 1895 it was abundant in Puget Sound, Washington; mainly used as bait (Ref. 28609). Also Ref. 6885.
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: https://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Whitehead, P.J.P., G.J. Nelson and T. Wongratana, 1988
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Engraulidae (Anchovies) > Engraulinae
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Anchois de Californie, Anchoa de California, Anchovies, ... more

Main reference

Whitehead, P.J.P., G.J. Nelson and T. Wongratana. 1988. (Ref. 189)
References | Biblio | Coordinator | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 24.8 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27436); common length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9988); max. published weight: 68.00 g (Ref. 56527); max. reported age: 7 years (Ref. 6884)

Length at first maturity
L_m 9.6 range ? - ? cm

Environment

Marine; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 310 m (Ref. 96339), usually ? - 219 m (Ref. 54433)

Climate / Range

Subtropical, preferred 13°C (Ref. 107945); 51°N - 21°N, 131°W - 108°W (Ref. 54433)

Distribution

Northeast Pacific: northern Vancouver Island south to Cape San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico. Two subspecies recognized: Engraulis mordax mordax from British Columbia to Baja California and Engraulis mordax nanus in Bays of California.
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14-19; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 19 - 26; Vertebrae: 43 - 47. Snout quite sharply pointed; maxilla moderate, tip sharply pointed, reaching to or almost to hind border of pre-operculum, projecting well beyond tip of second supra-maxilla; tip of lower jaw below nostril. gill rakers slender, long; absent on hind face of third epibranchial. Anal fin origin under about base of last dorsal fin ray. A silver stripe along flank, disappearing with age.

Usually found in coastal waters within about 30 km from shore, but as far out as 480 km, forming large, tightly packed schools. Enters bays and inlets. Feeds on euphausiids, copepods and decapod larvae, both by random filter-feeding and by 'pecking' at prey. Oviparous, epipelagic batch spawner (Ref. 6882). Spawns throughout the year, peaking once (Ref. 6882). Processed into fishmeal, used as bait for tuna, occasionally canned (Ref. 9298).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Least Concern (LC)

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; bait: usually

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion

Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
PD₅₀ = 0.5020 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
3.1 ±0.28 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (rm=0.36; K=0.2-0.6; tm=1-4; tmax=7; Fec=4000)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
Low to moderate vulnerability (30 of 100)

Price category (Ref. 80766)
Low

Engraulis mordax Girard, 1854