page_title: Anchovy
section_title: Biology
hierarchical_section_title: Anchovy / Biology
caption_attribution_description: Anchovies at the Mnoterey Bay Aquarium
context_page_description: The anchovies are a family of small but common schooling saltwater plankton-feeding fish. They are found in scattered areas throughout the world's oceans. Anchovies are concentrated in temperate waters, and are rare or absent in very cold or very warm seas.
context_section_description: The anchovy is a small green fish with blue reflections. These reflections are due to a silver stripe that runs  along the length of the fish from the base of the caudal fin.  It is maximum nine inches in length and body shape is variable with more slender fish in northern populations.  The snout is blunt with small, sharp teeth in both jaws.  The mouth is larger than those of herrings and silversides, two fish which they closely resemble.  It eats plankton and fish larvae.
  The Anchovy can tolerate  a wide range of temperatures and salinity. Large schools can be found in shallow, brackish areas with muddy bottoms, as in estuaries and bays.  
  Spawning occurs between October and March, but not in water colder than 12 °C.  The anchovy appears to spawn 100 kilometers from the shore, near the surface of the water.
caption: Anchovies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX S7c", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.1.3", "Image DateTime": "2007:02:01 18:08:40", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.4.8", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "264", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "624", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5302", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "146", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:01:27 11:01:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:01:27 11:01:57", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "29/5", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB"}