Anchovies
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Clupeiformes
Family:	Engraulidae
Genera
See text
Global commercial capture of anchovy in million tonnes 1950–2010[1]

Anchovies are a family (Engraulidae) of small, common salt-water forage fish. There are 144 species in 17 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Anchovies are usually classified as an oily fish.^[2]

Genera[link]

Characteristics[link]

European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus

Anchovies are small, green fish with blue reflections due to a silver longitudinal stripe that runs from the base of the caudal fin. They range from 2 centimetres (0.79 in) to 40 centimetres (16 in) in adult length,^[3] and the body shape is variable with more slender fish in northern populations.

The snout is blunt with tiny, sharp teeth in both jaws. The snout contains a unique rostral organ, believed to be sensory in nature, although its exact function is unknown.^[4] The mouth is larger than that of herrings and silversides, two fish anchovies closely resemble in other respects. The anchovy eats plankton and fry (recently-hatched fish).

Distribution[link]

Anchovies are found in scattered areas throughout the world's oceans, but are concentrated in temperate waters, and are rare or absent in very cold or very warm seas. They are generally very accepting of a wide range of temperatures and salinity. Large schools can be found in shallow, brackish areas with muddy bottoms, as in estuaries and bays. They are abundant in the Mediterranean, particularly in the Alboran Sea,^[5] and the Black Sea. The species is regularly caught along the coasts of Crete, Greece, Sicily, Italy, France, Turkey, and Spain. They are also found on the coast of northern Africa. The range of the species also extends along the Atlantic coast of Europe to the south of Norway. Spawning occurs between October and March, but not in water colder than 12 °C (54 °F). The anchovy appears to spawn at least 100 kilometers (62 mi) from the shore, near the surface of the water.

Ecology[link]

The anchovy is a significant food source for almost every predatory fish in its environment, including the California halibut, rock fish, yellowtail, shark, chinook, and coho salmon. It is also extremely important to marine mammals and birds; for example, breeding success of California brown pelicans^[6] and elegant terns is strongly connected to anchovy abundance.

Commercial species[link]

Commercially significant species
Common name	Scientific name	Maximum length	Common length	Maximum weight	Maximum age	Trophic level	Fish Base	FAO	ITIS	IUCN status
European anchovy*	Engraulis encrasicolus (Linnaeus, 1758)	20.0 cm	13.5 cm	kg	3 years	3.11	[7]	[8]	[9]	Not assessed
Argentine anchoita	Engraulis anchoita (Hubbs & Marini, 1935)	17.0 cm	cm	0.025 kg	years	2.51	[10]	[11]	[12]	Not assessed
Californian anchovy	Engraulis mordax (Girard, 1856)	24.8 cm	15.0 cm	0.068 kg	years	2.96	[13]	[14]	[15]	Least concern[16]
Japanese anchovy	Engraulis japonicus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846)	18.0 cm	14.0 cm	0.045 kg	4 years	2.60	[17]	[18]	[19]	Not assessed
Peruvian anchoveta	Engraulis ringens (Jenyns, 1842)	20.0 cm	14.0 cm	kg	3 years	2.70	[20]	[21]	[22]	Least concern[23]
Southern African anchovy	Engraulis capensis (Gilchrist, 1913)	17.0 cm	cm	kg	years	2.80	[24]	[25]	[26]	Not assessed

* Type species

Fisheries[link]

Global capture of anchovy in tonnes reported by the FAO

↑  Peruvian anchoveta 1950–2010 ^[1]

↑  Other anchovy 1950–2010 ^[1]

Capture of all anchovy reported by the FAO (green indicates Peruvian anchoveta) ^[1]

As food[link]

Still life with anchovies, 1972, Antonio Sicurezza

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anchovy dishes

Anchovies are also eaten by humans. When preserved by being gutted and salted in brine, matured, then packed in oil or salt, they acquire a characteristic strong flavor. In Roman times, they were the base for the fermented fish sauce called garum that was a staple of cuisine and an item of long-distance commerce produced in industrial quantities, and were also consumed raw as an aphrodisiac.^[27] Today they are used in small quantities to flavor many dishes. Because of the strong flavor, they are also an ingredient in several sauces, including Worcestershire sauce, Caesar salad dressing, remoulade and many fish sauces, and in some versions of Café de Paris butter. For domestic use, anchovy fillets are packed in oil or salt in small tins or jars, sometimes rolled around capers. Anchovy paste is also available. Fishermen also use anchovies as bait for larger fish, such as tuna and sea bass.

The strong taste people associate with anchovies is due to the curing process. Fresh anchovies, known in Italy as alici, have a much milder flavor.^[28] In Sweden and Finland, the name anchovies is related strongly to a traditional seasoning, hence the product "anchovies" is normally made of sprats^[29] and also herring can be sold as "anchovy-spiced", leading to confusion when translating recipes.

See also[link]

• Sardines
• Stable Ocean Hypothesis

Notes[link]

This article is one of a series on
Commercial fish
Large pelagic
billfish, bonito mackerel, salmon shark, tuna
Forage
anchovy, herring menhaden, sardine shad, sprat
Demersal
cod, eel, flatfish pollock, ray
Mixed
carp

References[link]

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Engraulidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
• PSMFC.org
• Francisco P, Chavez FP, Ryan J, Lluch-Cota SE and Ñiquen C M (2003) From Anchovies to Sardines and Back: Multidecadal Change in the Pacific Ocean Science 229(5604)217–221.
• Miller DJ (1956) "Anchovy" CalCOFI Reports, 5: 20–26.
• Nizinski MS and Munroe TA (1988) FAO species catalogue, volume 2: Clupeoid Fishes of the World, Engraulidae, Anchovies Pages 764–780, FAO Fisheries Synopsis 125, Rome. ISBN 92-5-102340-9.

External links[link]

Look up anchovy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Fisheries Ebb and Flow in 50-Year Cycle National Geographic News (2003).
• Anchovies in Thailand

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

v t e Anchovies (Engraulidae) Genera Amazonsprattus Anchoa Anchovia Anchoviella Cetengraulis Coilia Encrasicholina Engraulis Jurengraulis Lycengraulis Lycothrissa Papuengraulis Pseudosetipinna Pterengraulis Setipinna Stolephorus Thryssa Main commercial species European anchovy Argentine anchoita Californian anchovy Japanese anchovy Peruvian anchoveta Southern African anchovy Rainbow sardine Other species Freshwater anchovy As food Anchovy (food) Anchovy essence Bagna càuda Bagnun Buntil Fish sauce Garum Gentleman's Relish Janchi guksu Myeolchijeot Phu quoc fish sauce Pissaladière Pissalat Scotch woodcock Sujebi Rempeyek Worcestershire sauce Whitebait Related topics Anchoveta Estropadak Humboldt Current Rostral organ

v t e Principal commercial fishery species groups Wild Large pelagic fish Mackerel Salmon Shark Swordfish Tuna albacore bigeye Atlantic bluefin Pacific bluefin southern bluefin skipjack yellowfin Forage fish Anchovy Capelin Herring Ilish Menhaden Sardines Shad Demersal fish Catfish Cod Atlantic Pacific Flatfish flounder halibut plaice sole turbot Haddock Mullet Orange roughy Pollock Smelt-whitings Toothfish Freshwater fish Carp Sturgeon Tilapia Trout Other wild fish Eel Whitebait more... Crustaceans Crab Krill Lobster Shrimp and prawn more... Molluscs Abalone Mussels Octopus Oysters Scallops Squid more... Echinoderms Sea cucumbers Sea urchin more... Farmed Carp bighead common crucian grass silver Catfish Freshwater prawns Mussels Oysters Salmon Atlantic salmon trout coho chinook Scallops Seaweed Shrimp Tilapia Commercial fishing World fish production Fishing topics Fisheries glossary

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. (April 2011)

Sarah Carey is a former Esat Telecom employee^[1] and former columnist for The Sunday Times^[2] and The Irish Times.^[3] She is currently a radio presenter on Newstalk and has presented for TV3. She resigned from The Irish Times in March 2011 after an appearance on national television during which she defended leaking information from the Moriarty Tribunal about political donations from Denis O'Brien to Irish political parties.

Education and early work[link]

Carey has a degree in History from Trinity College, Dublin and a post-graduate diploma in Business Studies from the Michael Smurfit Business School in University College Dublin.^[4] She has performed freelance PR/marketing work for a number of companies and the political party Fine Gael. She has also worked for Esat Digifone.^[4]

Blogging and newspaper columns[link]

In 2002, she began writing the blog GUBU, "An Irish woman’s social, political and domestic commentary". Then Sunday Times Irish Editor Fiona McHugh, offered Carey a column after reading the blog. The Sunday Times column ended when she started writing a weekly opinion column for The Irish Times in 2008.^[5] The blog also ended in 2008.

Moriarty Tribunal[link]

Witness[link]

Because she had worked as Marketing Coordinator for ESat Telecom, she was a witness at the Moriarty Tribunal.^[6][7] In 2004, she leaked information provided to her by the tribunal about political donations made by Denis O'Brien. These leaks were published by journalist Stephen Collins in The Sunday Tribune. She denied to her legal team that she had been the source of the leak, and they then informed the Tribunal of her denial. Some days later she admitted to them she was the source and explained her role and motivations to the Tribunal when questioned under oath. The Tribunal judge publicly rebuked her in 2004 for wasting the tribunal's time in identifying the source of the leak, describing it as "irresponsible" and "not remotely justified".^[8]

Moriarty Tribunal report and aftermath[link]

When the final Tribunal report was published in March 2011, she appeared on Prime Time, a national TV news analysis show, in which she defended the leak and her support for Mr O'Brien.^[1] Days later, she resigned from her job with The Irish Times.^[9]. In a statement, the editor said that "her credibility as a columnist had been damaged by the findings of the report of the Moriarty tribunal and its aftermath. In order to protect the reputation of The Irish Times, her position as a columnist was untenable." She continues to write for other newspapers.^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Website of Newstalk