Anchovia hepsetus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Clupeiformes (Herrings, Anchovies and Sardines)
Engraulidae (Anchovies)
Anchovia
Anchovia hepsetus
Description
This species account was compiled from
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Characters
Body shape: elongated. Snout pointed, about 3/4 eye diameter; maxilla long, tips pointed, reaching beyond hind border of pre-operculum, almost to gill opening; gill cover canals of panamensis-type. Anal fin origin below about midpoint of dorsal fin base. Anus nearer to anal fin origin than to pelvic fin tips. Silver stripe along flank (a dark line above) of uniform width, narrowed immediately behind band (Ref. 189). Back greenish, some yellowish on head. Melanophores outline all dorsal scales (Ref. 7251). Striking features: none.
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Massachusetts, USA perhaps occasionally straying north to Maine or even Nova Scotia (Canada), south to Fort Pierce, Florida (but not Florida Keys) and at least northern Gulf of Mexico; also from Gulf of Venezuela south to Uruguay. Replaced by Anchoa colonensis in the West Indies.
Habitat Associations
Brackish, marine. pelagic-neritic. depth range 1-70 m. Found in: estuaries.
Biology
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).
Max length: 15.3 cm TL; common length: 11.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Spawn in school (Ref. 205).
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
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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