Silverstripe Anchovy, Anchoa argentivittata

Silverstripe Anchovy, Anchoa argentivittata. Fish provided by the commercial bait salesmen of Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, June 2021. Length: 10.7 cm (4.2 inches). Identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.

Silverstripe Anchovy, Anchoa argentivittata. Fish provided by the commercial bait salesmen of Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, April 2018. Length: 12 cm (4.7 inches).

The Silverstripe Anchovy, Anchoa argentivittata, is a member of the Anchovy or Engraudlidae Family, and is known in Mexico as anchoa plateada. Globally, there are thirty-five species in the genus Anchoa, twenty-three of which are found in Mexican waters, nine in the Atlantic and fourteen in the Pacific Ocean.

The Silverstripe Anchovy is characterized by an elongated cylindrical body, a long blunt snout, a long upper jaw, and a mouth that reaches the gill openings. They are grey-green in color and have a wide silver stripe mid-body that is equal in width to the diameter of the eyes.They have a short anal fin base, short pectoral fins that do not reach the pelvic fin base, and longer pelvic fins that reach the dorsal fin origin. A key identification characteristic is their anal fin, which originates immediately below their last dorsal fin ray.

The Silverstripe Anchovy is a pelagic species that is found over sand and gravel bottoms at depths up to 9 m (30 feet) and that reach a maximum of 12 cm (4.7 inches) in length. They are filter feeders and consume plankton. They reproduce via oviparity with external fertilization with the eggs and larvae being planktonic. The Silverstripe 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 Silverstripe Anchovy is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a very limited distribution being found only within a 75 mile radius of La Paz, Baja California Sur, and along the coast of the mainland from Guaymas, Sonora, to Guatemala. They are absent from the west coast of the Baja and from the majority of the east coast of Baja.

The Silverstripe Anchovy can be easily confused with the Gulf Anchovy, Anchoa helleri (anal fin originating under the last rays of the dorsal fin), the Sharpnose Anchovy, Anchoa ischana (anal fin originating behind the end of the dorsal fin, larger girth, broadening silver stripe on the side), and the Slender Anchovy, Anchoa exigua (anal fin originating under the center of the dorsal fin). They are very similar to the Striped Anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus, found in the Atlantic.

From a conservation perspective the Silverstripe Anchovy is currently considered to be of Least Concern with widely distributed stable populations. They are a small and seasonal, and of limited interest to most. They are fairly common during winter months in some years in the greater Los Cabos area. They are sold by live bait salesmen but do not survive bait tanks and thus are either used as chum or several are tail hooked to a 2/0 hook and sent “down deep.”