European anchovy
European anchovy | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Clupeiformes |
Family: | Engraulidae |
Genus: | Engraulis |
Species: | E. encrasicolus
|
Binomial name | |
Engraulis encrasicolus |
The European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) is a
Etymology
This species can be fished from the shore with simpler gear, such as
Description
It is easily distinguished by its deeply cleft mouth, the angle of the gape being behind the eyes. The pointed snout extends beyond the lower jaw. The fish resembles a sprat in having a forked tail and a single dorsal fin, but the body is round and slender.[citation needed] The record weight for a single fish is 49 g (1.7 oz).[4] The maximum recorded length is 21 cm (8+1⁄8 in).[citation needed] 13.5 cm (5.3 in) is a more typical length.[5] It has a silver underbelly and blue, green or grey back and sides.[4] A silver stripe along the side fades away with age.[5]
Habitat and ecology
The European anchovy is a coastal
European anchovies eat
European anchovies are eaten by many species of fish, birds and marine mammals.[4]
Life cycle
The species spawn multiply[5] in warm periods from about April to November, depending on when the temperatures are warm enough. At least some local subpopulations have separate spawning grounds, and are thus genetically distinct,[1] although spawning grounds shift.[5] Some spawn in fresh water. The shape of the eggs is ellipsoidal to oval.[5] The eggs float as plankton in the upper 50 m of the water column for about 24–65 hours before hatching. The hatched larvae are transparent and grow rapidly; a year later, in the unlikely event that they survive, they will be 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in) long.[1] The females are larger than the males.[8] When they reach a length of 12–13 cm (4.7–5.1 in), they spawn for the first time. A survey in southwestern Africa found no specimens older than three years.[1]
Distribution
Europe
European anchovies are abundant in the Mediterranean and formerly also the Black and Azov seas (see below). They are regularly caught on the coasts of Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Albania, Romania, Russia, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine. The range of the species also extends along the Atlantic coast of Europe to the south of Norway. In winter it is common off Devon and Cornwall (United Kingdom), but has not hitherto been caught in such numbers as to be of commercial importance.
Zuiderzee and English Channel
Formerly they were caught in large numbers off the coast of the Netherlands in summer when they entered the Wadden Sea and Zuiderzee. After the closing of the Zuiderzee they were still found in the Wadden Sea until the 1960s. They were also caught in the estuary of the Scheldt.
There is reason to believe that anchovies at the western end of the English Channel in November and December migrate from the Zuiderzee and the Scheldt in the autumn, returning there the following spring. They were believed to be an isolated population, for none come from the south in summer to occupy the English Channel, though the species does exist off the coast of Portugal. The explanation appears to be that in summer, the shallow and landlocked waters of the Zuiderzee and the sea off the Dutch coast get warmer than the coastal waters off Britain, so anchovies can spawn and maintain their numbers in warmer Dutch waters better.
Dutch naturalists on the shores of the Zuiderzee first described their reproduction and development. Spawning takes place in June and July. The eggs are buoyant and transparent like most fish eggs, but are unusual in being sausage-shaped, instead of globular. They resemble sprat and
There is no evidence to decide the question whether all the young anchovies as well as the adults leave the Zuiderzee in autumn, but, considering the winter temperature there, it is probable that they do. Eggs have also been found in the
Mediterranean, Black Sea and Azov Sea
In areas around the Black Sea, the European anchovy is called gávros (Γαύρος) in Greek, hamsie in Romanian, ქაფშია (Kapshia) or ქაფშა (Kapsha) in Georgian, hamsi in Turkish, hapsi in Pontic dialect of Turkish, hapsia (plural) in Pontic Greek, Hapchia in Laz,[9] хамсия (hamsiya) in Bulgarian, and хамса (hamsa) in Russian and Ukrainian. Its Ancient Greek name was ἀφύη, aphýē, later Latinized into apiuva, hence the standard Italian acciuga and the Croatian inćun through the Genoese dialectal anciúa. Modern Greek also uses αντζούγια antsúya, a variant of the Genoese form, for processed – as opposed to the fresh gávros – anchovy products.
Black Sea adult anchovies can reach around 12–15 cm (4+1⁄2–6 in). In the summer, hamsi migrates north to warm shallow waters of the
Anchovy populations in the Mediterranean were severely depleted in the 1980s by the
Off Africa (East Atlantic and West Indian Oceans)
European anchovies are commercially important down the west coast of Africa, although they are most abundant at the north end of this range. The species is most commercially important in Morocco. In Mauritania, artisanal fishers do not target the species, and commercial fisheries have size limitations.
In West Africa, these anchovies are widely fished and eaten. In Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin, it is an abundant and important commercial species. After the end of the upwelling season ends the Sardinella fishery, fishers change net size to catch anchovies. In Guinea, the Gambia, and Senegal, it is not an important commercial species.
South of the
European anchovies are also found in upwelling areas off the east coast of Africa.[1]
Fisheries
The IUCN considers the fisheries to be abundant and fully exploited, and in need of careful monitoring.[1] The highly international species has no concerted management plan.[5]
Local populations fluctuate, and have shown large fluctuations in the past.
European anchovies are caught with
Human uses
European anchovies are widely eaten.[1] Anchovies are considered an oily fish; they have a salty, strong taste. Some people eat them raw.[4] European anchovies are sold fresh, dried, smoked, salted, in oil, frozen, canned, and processed into fishmeal and fish oil.[4][1] Their ease of preservation has made them a traditional item for long-distance trade.[4] Anchovies are also used as fishing bait.[1][8]
See also
Notes
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Thring, Oliver (18 January 2011). "Consider the anchovy". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ "Family ENGRAULIDAE Gill 1861 (Anchovies)". The ETYFish Project. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g "European Anchovy". britishseafishing.co.uk. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "FishSource – European anchovy – Black Sea". www.fishsource.org. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
- .
- .
- ^ a b http://aquaticcommons.org/9289/1/na_2684.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Özhan Öztürk. Karadeniz Ansiklopedik Sözlük. 2005. pp. 486–488
- ^ Black Sea Region cuisine of Turkey Archived May 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
References
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2005). "Engraulis encrasicolus" in FishBase. October 2005 version.
- Kube, Sandra; Postel, Lutz; Honnef, Christopher & Augustin, Christina B. (2007): Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Baltic Sea – distribution and overwintering between autumn 2006 and spring 2007. Aquatic Invasions 2(2): 137–145.