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Engraulis mordax  Girard, 1854

Californian anchovy
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2100
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Engraulis mordax   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Engraulis mordax (Californian anchovy)
Engraulis mordax
Picture by FAO


United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Anchovy, Bay anchovy, Northern anchovy
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: abundant (always seen in some numbers) | Ref: Kucas, S.T., 1986
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: restricted | Ref:
Uses: bait: yes;
Comments: Used as food, as live or dead bait, as feed for fish hatcheries and mink farms, and as industrial fish meal and oil. In 1895 it was abundant in Puget Sound, Washington; mainly used as bait (Ref. 28609). Also Ref. 6885.
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: https://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Whitehead, P.J.P., G.J. Nelson and T. Wongratana, 1988
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Clupeiformes (Herrings) > Engraulidae (Anchovies) > Engraulinae
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Main reference

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 24.8 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 27436); common length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9988); max. published weight: 68.00 g (Ref. 56527); max. reported age: 7 years (Ref. 6884)

Length at first maturity
Lm 9.6  range ? - ? cm

Environment

Marine; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 310 m (Ref. 96339), usually ? - 219 m (Ref. 54433)

Climate / Range

Subtropical, preferred 13°C (Ref. 107945); 51°N - 21°N, 131°W - 108°W (Ref. 54433)

Distribution

Northeast Pacific: northern Vancouver Island south to Cape San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico. Two subspecies recognized: Engraulis mordax mordax from British Columbia to Baja California and Engraulis mordax nanus in Bays of California.
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14-19; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 19 - 26; Vertebrae: 43 - 47. Snout quite sharply pointed; maxilla moderate, tip sharply pointed, reaching to or almost to hind border of pre-operculum, projecting well beyond tip of second supra-maxilla; tip of lower jaw below nostril. gill rakers slender, long; absent on hind face of third epibranchial. Anal fin origin under about base of last dorsal fin ray. A silver stripe along flank, disappearing with age.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Usually found in coastal waters within about 30 km from shore, but as far out as 480 km, forming large, tightly packed schools. Enters bays and inlets. Feeds on euphausiids, copepods and decapod larvae, both by random filter-feeding and by 'pecking' at prey. Oviparous, epipelagic batch spawner (Ref. 6882). Spawns throughout the year, peaking once (Ref. 6882). Processed into fishmeal, used as bait for tuna, occasionally canned (Ref. 9298).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Threat to humans

  Harmless



Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; bait: usually

More information

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
PD50 = 0.5020 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
3.1   ±0.28 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (rm=0.36; K=0.2-0.6; tm=1-4; tmax=7; Fec=4000)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
Low to moderate vulnerability (30 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
Low