Anchoa hepsetus
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Clupeiformes (Herrings, Anchovies and Sardines)
Engraulidae (Anchovies)
Anchoa
Anchoa hepsetus (Striped Anchovy)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
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Characters
Slender and moderately compressed body; short, pointed snout; deeply forked caudal fin; body depth 19-22% SL; head length 25-30% SL; snout length about three-fourths eye length; maxilla with pointed tip, extending posterior to supramaxilla and reaching posterior margin of preoperculum; small jaw teeth; suborbital bone slightly longer than eye diameter; pseudobranch shorter than eye diameter; 19-25 slender gill rakers on lower limb of first arch; upper limb of third gill arch with gill rakers; pectoral fin not reaching pelvic fin base; dorsal fin origin posterior to midpoint between snout tip and caudal fin base, with 13-16 rays; pelvic fin nearly equidistant between anal fin origin and pectoral fin base; anal fin origin below midlength of dorsal fin base, with 20-24 rays; anus nearer to anal fin origin than to pelvic fin tip; 37-43 transverse rows of deciduous scales
Translucent with silvery stripe along flank; stripe width about three-fourths of eye diameter
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to southern Florida and the northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Coastal waters, ranging from shoreline to 70 m depth
Brackish-water bays and estuaries
Biology
Copepods, ostracods, and occasionally annelids
Maximum known size is 150 mm TL
Spawning takes place in spring and summer on the inner continental shelf and occasionally in bays
Forms dense schools, often in shallow waters close to shore. Able to tolerate a wide range of salinities, from hypersaline to almost fresh. Feeds on copepods when young, then on gastropods, foraminifers and an occasional ostracods and annelid. Breeding was recorded in April through to July at Beaufort, North Carolina. Breeds in harbors, estuaries and sounds. Eggs are elliptical, transparent, without oil globule, the yolk appearing `cellular' (Ref. 189). Great variation. Principal parasites are nematodes and cestodes (Scolex polymorphus and Rhynchobothrium sp.) and trematodes (Distomum appendiculatum and Distomum sp). Marketed as food (Ref. 37032).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-24. Resilience: High (tm=1; Fec=5700).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Gunter 1945
Hildebrand 1963c
Hoese and Moore 1977
Jones et al. 1978b
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Whitehead et al. 1988
Boschung 1992
Whitehead, P.J.P., G.J. Nelson and T. Wongratana (1988) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 7. Clupeoid fishes of the world (Suborder Clupeoidei). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the herrings, sardines, pilchards, sprats, shads, anchovies and wolf-herrings. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(7/2):305-579. Rome: FAO.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Bigelow, H.B., M.G. Bradbury, J.R. Dymond, J.R. Greeley, S.F. Hildebrand, G.W. Mead, R.R. Miller, L.R. Rivas, W.L. Schroeder, R.D. Suttkus and V.D. Vladykov (1963) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part three. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
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