| Synonyms
| | | | Engraulis pulchellus Girard, 1856:199 (Caldera Bay, Chile). | | | Engraulis tapirulus Cope, 1877:45 (Pacasmayo Bay, Peru - identification given by Bohlke, 1984:101 based on type). | | | Stolephorus tapirulus Abbott, 1899:335 (types). | | | Anchoviella tapirulus Fowler, 1941a:235 (listed). | | | Engraulis ringens Delfin, 1901:41 (Chile refs); Jordan & Seale, 1926:390 (Cacao, Peru; Panama fish = Anchoa arenicola); Hildebrand, 1943:16, fig.3 (various localities in Chile and Peru); Fowler, 1944:19 (large list of Chile refs). | | | Engraulis ringens Hildebrand, 1946; 97, fig.20 (off Canete,Chimbote, Lobos de Tierra, Peru); Mann, 1954:137, fig. (Synopsis); Fischer, 1958:111 et seq., figs 1 to 3 (Chile, eggs and larvae); De Buen, 1958:102 (Chile, good list of Chile refs); Jordan, 1963:27 et seq. (Peru, vertebrae). | | | Engraulis ringens Einarsson & Rojas de Mendiola, 1963 |
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| FAO Names | | En - Anchoveta(=Peruvian anchovy), Fr - Anchois du Pérou, Sp - Anchoveta. |
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3Alpha Code: VET Taxonomic Code: 1210600208 |
| Scientific Name with Original Description | | | Engraulis ringens Jenyns, 1842, Zool.voy.Beagle, fishes:138 (Callao, Peru). |
| Diagnostic Features
| | | Body slender, elongate, rather round in cross-section, its depth about 4.5 to 5.5 times in standard length. Snout pointed; maxilla short, tip bluntly rounded, reaching to but not beyond front border of pre-operculum, projecting beyond tip of second supra-maxilla; tip of lower jaw in front of nostril.
Lower gillrakers 38 to 49, long and slender, increasing with size of fish; no gillrakers on hind face of third epibranchial.
Anal fin origin well behind base of last dorsal finray. A silver stripe along flank in young individuals, disappearing with age.
The high number of gillrakers distinguishes it from all Pacific species of Anchoa; other anchovies that may be sympatric in northern Peru are deeper-bodied and more compressed (Anchovia, Cetengraulis).
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| Geographical Distribution | |
| | Eastern South Pacific (northern Peru from about Aguja Point at 6° S southward to Chiloe, Chile at 42°31'S, the distribution dependant on the coastal extentof the Peru Current). |
| Habitat and Biology | | Marine,coastal, mainly within 80 km of coast, but occasionally as far out as 160 km,forming huge schools, chiefly in surface waters (descending in daytime to up to 50 m, rising at night).Entirely dependant on the rich plankton of the Peruvian Current,its northern distribution limited in Peruvian waters in years when a 'tongue' of warmer and less saline surface water extends southward over the northbound coastal Peru Current (the so-called El Niño phenomenon).Feeds on plankton by filter-feeding, with up to 98% diatoms recorded in some studies (chiefly Coscinodiscus, Schroderella, Skeletonema and Thalassothrix); copepods, euphausiids, fish eggs and dinoflagellates also taken.
Breeds throughout year along entire coast of Peru, but with a major spawning in winter/spring (July to September) and a lesser one in summer (February and March); also throughout year off Chile, with peaks in winter (May to July) and the end of spring (especially December); mature at about 1 year (about 10 cm standard length); eggs ellipsoidal.
Attains about 8 cm standard length in 6 months, 10.5 cm in 12 months and 12 cm in 18 months; longevity about 3 years. |
| Size | | | To about 20 cm standard length. |
| Interest to Fisheries | | The most heavily exploited fish in world history, yielding 13 059 900 t in 1971, but with great fluctuations and a decline since that year. After the drastic reduction in catches of the 80's, influenced also by the strongest El Niño of the century (1982-83), in the 90's the catches are recovering and reached a peak in 1994 with 12 520 611 t. The fishes are recruited to the fishery at about 8 cm standard length at age 5 or 6 months. They are caught by purse seiner ( vessels known as bolicheras in Peru). Common fishing techniques are "Midwater otter trawling" and "Small pelagic midwater trawling". A good summary of the dynamics of the fishery is given by Schaeffer (1967) and the state of the fishery is monitored in publications by the Institute del Mar del Peru in cooperation with FAO (in Boletins and Informes of the Instituto).The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 8 723 265 t. The countries with the largest catches were Peru (6 740 225 t) and Chile (1 983 040 t).
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| Local Names | | | CHILE :
Anchoveta (Arica),
Chicora (Iquique),
Sardina bocona (Valparaiso),
Sardina (Talcahuano, San Vicente). |
| PERU :
Anchoveta ,
Anchoveta peruana . |
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| Remarks | | Distinctions between this species and the Californian anchoveta (E. mordax ).
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Bibliography Jordan & Chirinos de Vildoso, (1965) Schaefer, (1967 |
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