Striped Anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus

Striped Anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus. Fish caught from coasatal waters off Long Island, New York, August 2022. Length: 5.9 cm (2.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of James Lafontaine, Long Island, New York.

Striped Anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus. Fish caught from coastal waters at the outlet at Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, August 2018. Length: 10 cm (3.9 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Striped Anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus. Fish caught off the Lynnhaven Fishing Pier, Virginia Beach, Virginia, August 2015. Length: 11 cm (4.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Marc Eberlein, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Striped Anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus, is a member of the Anchovy or Engraulidae Family, that is also known as the Broad Stripe Anchovy and in Mexico as anchoa legitima. Globally, there are thirty-five species in the genus Anchoa, of which twenty-three are found in Mexican waters, nine in the Atlantic and fourteen in the Pacific Ocean.

The Striped Anchovy is a pelagic coastal species found in large dense schools within shallow waters close to shore at depths up to 73 m (240 feet); they are able to tolerate wide variations in salinity and frequent brackish water bays, lagoons, and estuaries. They reach a maximum of 15.3 cm (6.0 inches) in length. They are filter feeders consuming phytoplankton and zooplankton. The juveniles consume copepods; the adults small crustaceans, mollusks and worm larvae. They are one of the essential forage fishes and are heavily preyed upon by numerous fishes including the Atlantic Seatrout and the Cobia and numerous sea birds. They are filter feeders and consume plankton. They reproduce via oviparity with external fertilization with the eggs and larvae being pelagic. The Striped Anchovy has a moderately elongated relatively slender somewhat compressed body. Their head has very large eyes, a protuberant snout, a large mouth that ends well past the eyes and an underslung jaw. They are a translucent gray-green silvery color with a wide silver stripe that runs mid-body from the head to the tail that is uniform in width and greater than 50% of the pupil. They also have a dark line immediately above the silver line. They have touches of yellow on the head and all of the dorsal scales have dark margins. Their anal fin has 20 to 24 rays with a short base that originates under the center of the dorsal fin; their dorsal fin has 14 to 17 rays originates mid-body; and, their pectoral fins are short and do not reach the pelvic fin origin. They have 19 to 25 lower gill rakers.

The Striped Anchovy is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

In Mexican waters the Striped Anchovy is a resident of all waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Striped Anchovy is mostly likely confused with the Narrowstriped Anchovy, Anchoa colonensis (mid-lateral stripe equal to or less than the size of the pupil) from the Atlantic. They are very similar to the Silverstripe Anchovy, Anchoa argentivittata, found in the Pacific Ocean.

From a conservation perspective the Striped Anchovy is currently considered to be of Least Concern, with stable, widely distributed populations. They are sold commercially as a food for human consumption on a limited basis but are known to contain cestodes, nematodes and trematode parasites. They are caught with beach and boat seines, cast nets and fine mesh trawls and although they will not survive a boat bait tank they are used primarily as a bait including extensive use as an excellent chum.