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An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 17
genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
; they are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, and in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Anchovies are usually classified as oily fish.


Genera


Characteristics

Anchovies are small, green fish with blue reflections due to a silver-colored
longitudinal Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Longitude ** Line of longitude, also called a meridian * Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, ...
stripe that runs from the base of the caudal (tail) fin. They range from in adult length, and their body shapes are variable with more slender fish in northern populations. The
snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...
is blunt with tiny, sharp teeth in both jaws. The snout contains a unique rostral organ, believed to be electro-sensory in nature, although its exact function is unknown. The mouth is larger than that of
herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
s and silversides, two fish which anchovies closely resemble in other respects. The anchovy eats plankton and recently hatched fish.


Distribution

Anchovies are found in scattered areas throughout the world's oceans, but are concentrated in temperate waters, and are rare or absent in very cold or very warm seas. They are generally very accepting of a wide range of temperatures and
salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...
. Large schools can be found in shallow, brackish areas with muddy bottoms, as in estuaries and bays. The European anchovy is abundant in the Mediterranean, particularly in the
Alboran Sea The Alboran Sea (from Arabic , ''al-Baḥrān'') is the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa (Spain on the north and Morocco and Algeria on the south). The Strait of Gibraltar, w ...
, Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. This species is regularly caught along the coasts of Crete, Greece, Sicily, Italy, France, Turkey, Northern Iran, Portugal and Spain. They are also found on the coast of northern Africa. The range of the species also extends along the Atlantic coast of Europe to the south of Norway. Spawning occurs between October and March, but not in water colder than . The anchovy appears to spawn at least from the shore, near the surface of the water.


Ecology

The anchovy is a significant food source for almost every predatory fish in its environment, including the
California halibut The California halibut or California flounder (''Paralichthys californicus'') is a large-tooth flounder native to the waters of the Pacific Coast of North America from the Quillayute River in Washington to Magdalena Bay in Baja California. It f ...
, rock fish, yellowtail, shark, chinook, and coho salmon. It is also extremely important to
marine mammals Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their relia ...
and birds; for example, breeding success of California brown pelicans and elegant terns is strongly connected to anchovy abundance.


Feeding behavior

Anchovies, like most clupeoids (herrings, sardines and anchovies), are filter-feeders that open their mouths as they swim. As water passes through the mouth and out the gills, food particles are sieved by gill rakers and transferred into the esophagus.


Commercial species

* Type species


Fisheries


Black Sea

On average, the Turkish commercial fishing fleet catches around 300,000 tons per year, mainly in winter. The largest catch is in November and December.


Peru

The Peruvian anchovy fishery is one of the largest in the world, far exceeding catches of the other anchovy species. In 1973 it
collapse Collapse or its variants may refer to: Concepts * Collapse (structural) * Collapse (topology), a mathematical concept * Collapsing manifold * Collapse, the action of collapsing or telescoping objects * Collapsing user interface elements ** ...
d catastrophically due to the combined effects of
overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...
and El Niño and did not recover fully for two decades.


As food

A traditional method of
processing Processing is a free graphical library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computer programming ...
and preserving anchovies is to gut and salt them in brine, allow them to
cure A cure is a substance or procedure that ends a medical condition, such as a medication, a surgical operation, a change in lifestyle or even a philosophical mindset that helps end a person's sufferings; or the state of being healed, or cured. The ...
, and then pack them in oil or salt. This results in a characteristic strong flavor and the flesh turning a deep grey. Pickled in vinegar, as with Spanish ''
boquerones Boquerones en vinagre are a type of appetizer or tapa found in Spain. The central ingredient of the dish is the ''boquerones'', fresh anchovies. The fillets are marinated in vinegar or a mixture of vinegar and olive oil, and seasoned with ga ...
'', anchovies are milder and the flesh retains a white color. In Roman times, anchovies were the base for the fermented fish sauce '' garum''. ''Garum'' had a sufficiently long shelf life for long-distance commerce, and was produced in industrial quantities. Anchovies were also eaten raw as an aphrodisiac. Today, they are used in small quantities to flavor many dishes. Because of the strong flavor, they are also an ingredient in several sauces and condiments, including Worcestershire sauce,
caesar salad A Caesar salad (also spelled Cesar and Cesare) is a green salad of romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with lemon juice (or lime juice), olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, garlic, Dijon mustard, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper ...
dressing, remoulade, Gentleman's Relish, many fish sauces, and in some versions of Café de Paris butter. For domestic use, anchovy fillets are packed in oil or salt in small tins or jars, sometimes rolled around capers.
Anchovy paste Anchovy paste is a fish paste food product prepared using anchovies as a primary ingredient. It is used as a condiment and as an ingredient in various dishes, such as Scotch woodcock, and is a mass-produced product. It has been used for centuries ...
is also available. Fishermen also use anchovies as bait for larger fish, such as tuna and sea bass. The strong taste people associate with anchovies is due to the curing process. Fresh anchovies, known in Italy as ''alici'', have a much milder flavor. The anchovies from Barcola (in the local dialect: "Sardoni barcolani") are particularly popular. These white fleshy fish, which are only found at Sirocco in the Gulf of Trieste, achieve the highest prices. In
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and Finland, the name anchovies is related strongly to a traditional seasoning, hence the product "anchovies" is normally made of sprats and
herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
can be sold as "anchovy-spiced". Fish from the family Engraulidae are instead known as ''sardell'' in Sweden and ''sardelli'' in Finland, leading to confusion when translating recipes. In Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, they are deep-fried and eaten as a snack or a side dish. They are known as Ikan Bilis in Malay, Ikan Teri in Indonesian and Dilis in Filipino.


See also

* Sardine


References


Further reading

* * * Miller DJ (1956
"Anchovy"
''CalCOFI Reports'', 5: 20–26. * Nizinski MS and Munroe TA (1988) FAO species catalogue, volume 2: ''Clupeoid Fishes of the World'', tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/y4161e/y4161e12.pdf ''Engraulidae'', AnchoviesPages 764–780, FAO Fisheries Synopsis 125, Rome. . * Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commissio

Northern Anchovy *


External links


"Fisheries Ebb and Flow in 50-Year Cycle"
by Cameron Walker, National Geographic News (January 9, 2003). * {{Authority control Anchovies, Fish common names Marine fish