Engraulis eurystole
Silver Anchovy
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Clupeiformes (Herrings, Anchovies and Sardines)
Engraulidae (Anchovies)
Engraulis
Engraulis eurystole (Silver 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.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Body depth is 15% to 19% and head length is 25% to 29% of SL. Snout length is slightly shorter than eye diameter. Maxilla is short, not extending beyond supramaxilla and only reaching anterior margin of preoperculum, and is bluntly tipped. Jaw teeth are small. Suborbital bone (below eye) is as long as distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of eye. Pseudobranch (on inner surface of gill cover) is longer than eye, extending posteriorly onto operculum. Gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch are slender and number 27 to 43. Upper limb of third gill arch has gill rakers. Pectoral fin falls short of pelvic fin base by distance greater than eye diameter. Dorsal fin originates nearer to tip of snout than to base of caudal fin, and has 13 to 16 rays. Pelvic fin inserts nearer to pectoral fin base than to anal fin origin. Anal fin originates posterior to dorsal fin base and has 15 to 19 rays. Scales are deciduous and in 40 to 45 transverse rows. Vertebrae number 43 to 45.
Color is translucent with silvery stripe on flank. Stripe is as wide as eye diameter and has dark dorsal margin.
Distribution
Western North Atlantic from Massachusetts to Florida, and northeastern Gulf of Mexico to Mississippi Sound
Habitat Associations
Coastal waters, from shoreline to 65 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 150 mm TL
Spawning occurs during the summer
Common in shallow sheltered waters like harbors, etc., forming compact schools. Spawning peak is in July or August. Eggs are ellipsoidal (Ref. 189).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-24. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or 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 1963c
Jones et al. 1978b
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Whitehead et al. 1988
Whitehead, P.J.P. (1985) 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(7/1):1-303. Rome: FAO.
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.
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott (1988) Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219:731 p.
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.
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