Herrings: Clupeiformes

Physical characteristics: Bay anchovies are typically 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10.2 centimeters) in total length. They are nearly transparent and greenish and have a silvery band along the sides of the body. The snout overhangs the mouth, and the lower jawbone extends well beyond the eye.

Geographic range: Bay anchovies live along the Atlantic coast of North America from Maine to the Florida Keys and westward around the Gulf of Mexico south to the Yucatán peninsula.

Habitat: Bay anchovies live along the coast in estuaries, bays, and marshes and near sandy beaches. They usually live over muddy bottoms Bay anchovies are used as bait and for making anchovy paste. They are important in the diet of fishes caught by commercial fishermen. (IIllustration by Jonathan Higgins. Reproduced by permission.) or among plants. Bay anchovies can handle a wide range of saltiness but are often found in water that is slightly less salty than seawater.

Diet: Bay anchovies usually eat plankton, mostly crustaceans, but sometimes they eat small fishes, snails and slugs, and crustaceans called isopods (EYE-suh-pods).

Behavior and reproduction: Bay anchovies swim in schools. They spend the winter in deep waters and migrate to shallow shores and wetlands for spawning in late spring to early summer. Spawning takes place during the evening hours. Females release the eggs into the water, where they are fertilized by males. The eggs float near the surface for approximately twenty-four hours after fertilization and then hatch. Bay anchovies mature to adults in two and one-half months.

Bay anchovies and people: Bay anchovies are used as bait and for making anchovy paste. They are important in the diet of fishes caught by commercial fishermen.

Conservation status: Bay anchovies are not threatened or endangered. ∎