Anchovy
family of fishes
Anchovies are small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water.
More than 140 species are placed in 16 genera; they are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, and in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Anchovies are usually classified as oily fish.
Taxonomy
Anchovies are classified into two subfamilies and 16 genera:
Superfamily Engrauloidea
Family †Clupeopsidae Marramà & Carnevale, 2026
Genus †Clupeopsis Casier, 1946
Genus †Monosmilus Capobianco et al., 2020
Family Engraulidae Gill, 1861
Subfamily Engraulinae Gill, 1861
Genus Amazonsprattus Roberts, 1984
Genus Anchoa D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1927
Genus Anchovia D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1895
Genus Anchoviella Fowler, 1911
Genus Cetengraulis Günther, 1868
Genus Encrasicholina Fowler, 1938
Genus †Eoengraulis Marrama & Carnevale, 2015
Genus Engraulis Cuvier, 1816
Genus Jurengraulis Whitehead, 1988
Genus Lycengraulis Günther, 1868
Genus Pterengraulis Günther, 1868
Genus Stolephorus Lacépède, 1803
Subfamily Coiliinae Bleeker, 1870
Genus Coilia Gray 1830
Genus Lycothrissa Günther, 1868
Genus Papuengraulis Munro, 1964
Genus Setipinna Swainson 1839
Genus Thryssa Cuvier, 1829
Evolution
The earliest known fossil records of anchovy relatives are of large predatory stem-anchovies (Clupeopsis and Monosmilus) from the early and middle Eocene of the Tethys Ocean, in Belgium and Pakistan. The large fangs of these early anchovy relatives has led to the nickname "saber-toothed anchovies" (not to be confused with the extant genus Lycengraulis). The earliest record of a true anchovy is of the stem-engrauline Eoengraulis from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy.
Despite their abundance in the modern day and their tendency to form huge schools, anchovies are relatively rare in the fossil record. Many species that were formerly considered fossil anchovies are thought to either not be anchovies or are too fragmentary to confidently assign to this group. The rarity of anchovies in the fossil record may be an artifact of preservation; fossil anchovies are only recognizable as such when well-preserved, but anchovies tend to inhabit highly turbid nearshore marine environments where preservation as fossils is much less likely, while well-preserved fossil fishes tend to be found in deposits formed in deeper water.
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