Anchovy

Where it lives

European anchovy occupies coastal waters from southern Norway to South Africa and throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea. They are pelagic schoolers, forming vast aggregations near the surface in summer and dropping to deeper water in winter.

How to recognise it

A small, slender, elongated fish with a tall silvery flank stripe running from gill to tail. The mouth is unmistakable — wide, with the upper jaw projecting well past the lower, giving a duck-like bottom profile. A short single dorsal fin sits near the middle of the back.

Diet & behavior

Anchovies are continuous filter feeders that strain copepods, fish larvae, and tiny crustaceans from passing water. They spawn pelagically in coastal waters and form crucial forage for tuna, dolphins, seabirds, and larger predatory fish.

Fisheries & Conservation

Globally Least Concern. Salt-cured Mediterranean anchovies are central to Italian, Spanish, and Roman cuisines. Pacific anchoveta of the Humboldt Current is a separate species that anchors the world’s largest fishery by volume.