Bigscale Anchovy, Anchovia macrolepidota

Bigscale Anchovy, Anchovia macrolepidota. Fish caught with a cast net off the pier at Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, April 2016. Length: 10.1 cm (4.0 inches). Identification courtesy of Dr. Ross Robertson, Smithsonian Institute, Panama.

Bigscale Anchovy, Anchovia macrolepidota. Fish caught with a cast net off the pier at Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, April 2016. Length: 17.9 cm (7.0 inches).

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

The Bigscale Anchovy is characterized by a deep strongly-compressed rectangular body that has a depth that is 27% to 31% of standard length. They have a short pointed snout with a tip just above the center of their very large eyes, which are set well forward. They are silvery with yellow fins; their caudal fin has a black margin. Juveniles have a silver stripe on their flank. Their mouth is large with the top jaw reaching the gill cover equipped with fine teeth on their lower jaw. Their anal fin has 26 to 29 rays and a long base and originates under the center of the dorsal fin; their dorsal fin has 15 rays and originates mid-body; and, their pectoral fins reach the pelvic fin base. They have 70 to 135 fine and slender gill rakers.

The Bigscale Anchovy is a neritic (coastal) pelagic species found inshore along sandy beaches, in tidal streams, and in large schools in brackish river mouths at depths up to 46 m (150 feet). Juveniles are found in shallower waters than adults. They reach a maximum of 25 cm (10 inches) in length and are virtually weightless. They are filter feeders consuming phytoplankton and zooplankton. They reproduce via oviparity with external fertilization with the eggs and larvae being pelagic. The Bigscale 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.

The Bigscale Anchovy is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific with the exception that they are absent from Guerrero Negro, Baja California, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.

The Bigscale Anchovy is most likely confused with the Anchoveta, Cetengraulis mysticetus (black fins; longer snout; 60 gill rakers).

From a conservation perspective the Bigscale Anchovy is currently considered to be of Least Concern with widely distributed stable populations. They are used on a limited basis as bait, however, they are of limited interest to most.