Anchoveta, Cetengraulis mysticetus

Anchoveta, Cetengraulis mysticetus. Fish provided by the commercial bait salesmen of Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, April 2011. Length: 10.0 cm (3.9 inches).

The Anchoveta, Cetengraulis mysticetus, is a member of the Anchovy or Engraulidae Family, and is known in Mexico as anchoveta bocona. Globally, there are three species in the genus Cetengraulis, of which two are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific Ocean.

The Anchoveta is a herring-like fish with an elongated, strongly-compressed, deep body with a bluish back and a silvery belly. Their heads have a sharply pointed snout, a short top jaw, the mouth extends well beyond their eyes and they have no canine teeth. Their anal fin has 16 to 26 rays and a long base that originates under the last third of the dorsal fin; their caudal fin is forked; their dorsal fin has 13 to 17 rays and originates mid-body; and, their pectoral fins found on the belly are long and reach the pelvic fins.

The Anchoveta is found in large schools over muddy inshore areas at depths up to 30 m (100 feet). They feed on planktonic organisms. They reach a maximum of 22 cm (8.6 inches) in length. They reproduce via oviparity with external fertilization with the eggs and larvae being pelagic. The Anchoveta 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.

The Anchoveta is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific noting that from personal experience they are exceedingly rare in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur.

The Anchoveta can be confused with the Bigscale Anchovy, Anchovia macrolepidota (pale caudal fin; dorsal fin with a black margin).

From a conservation perspective the Anchoveta is currently considered to be of Least Concern, being common with a wide distribution. They are fished commercially with cast nets, lampara nets and purse seines and caught at a level of 200,000 tons per year. They are used as a tuna bait fish and in the production of fish meal and fish oil. For recreational anglers they are utilized primarily as a live flylined live bait, or as a cut bait, or cut up for chum.