Cetengraulis edentulus
Atlantic Anchoveta
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Clupeiformes (Herrings, Anchovies and Sardines)
Engraulidae (Anchovies)
Cetengraulis
Cetengraulis edentulus (Atlantic Anchoveta)
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.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Moderately deep bodied and compressed, with branchiostegal membrane expanded posteriorly to cover isthmus. Snout is rather pointed. Body depth is 25% to 34.4%, head length is 30% to 34.5%, snout length is 3.8% to 4.8%, and eye diameter is 6.5 to 8% of SL. Maxilla has blunt tip and is short, generally not extending beyond anterior margin of preoperculum. Upper jaw teeth are very small, and lower jaw lacks teeth. Suborbital bone (under eye) is as long as snout and eye and has acute posterior angle. Branchiostegal rays number 8. Gill rakers are long and slender; they number 30 to 36 on lower limb of first arch in specimens about 65 mm SL, and number 45 to 55 in specimens between 100 and 130 mm SL but can number up to 105 in specimens 130 mm SL. No gill rakers occur on posterior face of epibranch of third arch. Pectoral fin is bluntly rounded and has 14 or 15 rays. Dorsal fin is near midpoint of body and has 14 to 16 rays. Pelvic fin inserts slightly closer to anal fin origin than to pectoral fin base. Anal fin originates under last one-third of dorsal fin base and has 18 to 24 rays. Scales are deciduous and in 40 to 43 transverse rows. Vertebrae number 42.
Color in preservative is bluish gray dorsally and silvery ventrally and on side. Specimens up to 100 mm SL have silver stripe on flank.
Distribution
Western Atlantic Ocean from the southern Gulf of Mexico
Southern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Brackish waters
Biology
Maximum known size is about 130 mm SL
Occurs inshore and forms quite large schools. Enters brackish waters of lagoons and estuaries and can tolerate salinities of 10.32-31 ppt (Santa Cruz Canal, Pernambuco, Brazil). A filter-feeder presumably on both phytoplankton and zooplankton. Spawns off the Araya Peninsula, Venezuela from October to January, with a distinct peak in mid-November. Eggs are oval, spawned at 0230-0500 hours along shoreline out to about 1.5 km and hatching at about 20-24 hours later.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-24. Resilience: Medium (K=0.13-0.22; Fec=8,189 (batch fecundity)).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Hildebrand 1963b
Castro-Aguirre 1978
Whitehead et al. 1988
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.
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.
Lima, J.S., I.D. da Costa and I.R. Zalmon (2020) Length-weight relationship of fish species captured around an artificial offshore reef (northern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). J. Appl. Ichthyol. 37:337-341. DOI: 10.1111/jai.14109
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