Dusky Anchovy, Anchoa lyolepis

Dusky Anchovy, Anchoa lyolepis. Fish caught from coastal waters off Cherry Grove, South Carolina, July 2020. Length: 5.1 cm (2.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

The Dusky Anchovy, Anchoa lyolepis, is a member of the Anchovy or Engraulidae Family, that is also known as the Shortfinger Anchovy and in Mexico as anchoa mulata. 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 Dusky Anchovy has an elongated body with an oval cross-section. They are a silvery translucent color with a mid-lateral stripe that is eye width, with a dark line above it. They have an iridescent golden spot on top of their head. Their anal and caudal fins have dark spots along the fin rays and around their bases. Their head has a long, pointed snout that that is slightly longer than the eye diameter and extends well past the tip of the lower jaw. The tip of the lower jaw is under the anterior of the eyes. Their anal fin has 21 to 23 rays and is short and originates under or behind the dorsal fin; their dorsal fin has 14 to 16 rays; and, their pectoral fins are short and do not reach the pelvic fins. Their anus is closer to the anal fin origin than to the pelvic fin tips. They have 19 to 28 lower gill rakers.

The Dusky Anchovy is a pelagic coastal schooling species that are found in a variety of shallow waters that form large compact schools are abundant off beaches, in mangrove-lined lagoons, and in harbors at depths up to 55 m (180 feet). They reach a maximum of 12 cm (4.7 inches) in length. They are filter feeders that consume zooplankton. In turn they are preyed upon by numerous sea birds and fishes. Reproduction is oviparous and occurs in large schools. Each female broadcast eggs which are fertilized externally. The eggs are larvae are planktonic. The Dusky 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 Dusky Anchovy is easily confused with the Bay Anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli (shorter head and snout and narrow stripe, anal fin origin over dorsal fin origin), the Cuban Anchovy, Anchoa cubana (anal fin origin under mid-point of dorsal fin), the Silver Anchovy, Engraulis eurystole (13 to 15 anal rays), and the Striped Anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus (tip of lower jaw anterior to the eye, anus closer to anal fin origin than pelvic fin tips).

The Dusky Anchovy is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean with the exception that they are absent from the Campeche Bank north of the Yucatán.

From a conservation perspective the Dusky Anchovy is currently considered to be of Least Concern, with stable, widely distributed populations. Their long-term survival has been adversely affected by human coastal developments and pollution within their coastal nursery areas. They are caught with trawls, cast nets, seines, and utilized as a bait fish by artisanal fishermen and retained for human consumption by subsistence fishermen.