Bay Anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli

Bay Anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Long Island, New York, October 2022. Length: 5.4 cm (2.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of James Lafontaine, Long Island, New York.

Bay Anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli. Fish caught off the pier in Folly Beach, South Carolina, June 2015. Length: 6.2 cm (2.4 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.

Bay Anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli. Fish caught from the Packery Channel Jetty, Corpus Christi, Texas, August 2018. Length: 6.2 cm (2.4 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Bay Anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli. Fish caught from coastal waters off Long Island, New York, October 2022. Length: 6.3 cm (2.5 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of James Lafontaine, Long Island, New York.

Bay Anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli. Fish caught from coastal waters off Sebastian, Florida, November 2021. Length: 6.4 cm (2.5 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.

The Bay Anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli, is a member of the Anchovy or Engraulidae Family, and is also known as the Common Anchovy and in Mexico as anchoa de caleta. 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 Bay Anchovy vary in appearance with southern populations having deeper bodies than northern populations but overall they are small and slender fish. They are silvery translucent with a gray-green cast and a silver stripe mid-flank that is about the width of their pupil. Their head is short with a short blunt snout and a long jaw that almost reaches their gill openings. Their anal fin has 24 to 30 rays; their single dorsal fin has 14 to 16 rays and has a long base and is located well back on the body and directly above the anal fin origin; and, their pectoral fin have 11 to 12 rays. Their anus is closer to the pelvic fin tips than to the anal fin origin. They have 20 to 26 lower gill rakers.

The Bay Anchovy is a pelagic schooling species found over open areas with sandy substrate, in the surf zone, in tidal pools, and in coastal creeks and marshes at depths up to 24 m (80 feet). They reach a maximum of 11.0 cm (4.3 inches) in length. The Bay Anchovy is non-migratory and are one of the most common fish along the coastline of the western Atlantic. They are found in a wide range of water temperatures and salinities, however, they will not survive in depleted oxygen environments and low water temperatures. They are filter feeders and consume zooplankton including copepods, crab larvae, small fish and mysids. They are more active at night to avoid predation. They are an important component of the ocean food system being preyed upon by a wide variety of larger fish including Bluefish, Chain Pickerel, Striped Bass, and Weakfish and by a variety of seabirds. They reproduce via oviparity with external fertilization with the eggs and larvae being pelagic. Spawning occurs in schools with each female releasing 1,000 eggs up to fifty times per year. They have lifespans of up to three years.

The Bay Anchovy is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean being found throughout the Gulf of Mexico; they are absent from along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.They are exceedingly abundant in the Pueblo Viejo Lagoon, Veracruz, where adult populations are estimated to exceed 1,000,000 individuals.

The Bay Anchovy is similar to the Bigeye Anchovy, Anchoa lamprotaenia (anal fin origin under center of dorsal fin), the Cuban Anchovy, Anchoa cubana (dorsal fin in front of anal fin), and the Striped Anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus (significantly larger; longer snout; dorsal fin in front of anal fin).

From a conservation perspective, the Bay Anchovy is currently considered to be of Least Concern, being abundant with stable populations and wide distribution. They are prone to, and can adversely be affected by, the deterioration of the water quality caused by human development and related pollution. The Bay Anchovy has a limited commercial use. Those that are harvested are used either as bait fish or to produce fish oil and fish paste.