Anchovy Paste

Body slender, elongate, oval in cross-section, its depth about 6 times in standard length. Snout pointed; maxilla short, tip blunt, reaching almost to front border of pre-operculum, not projecting beyond tip of second supra-maxilla; tip of lower jaw reaching to below nostril. Lower gillrakers 27 to 43; gillrakers present on hind face of third epibranchial. Pseudobranch longer than eye, reaching onto inner face of operculum. Anal fin short, with iii 13 to 15 finrays, its origin well behind base of last dorsal finray. A silver stripe along flank, disappearing with age. Unmistakable since the only anchovy species in its range.

Eastern North and Central Atlantic (coasts of Europe south from about Bergen, Norway, but not Baltic and rare in the north; whole Mediterranean and Black and Azov seas, with stray individuals in Suez Canal and Gulf of Suez; southward along coast of West Africa to Angola, also recorded from St. Helena).

To 20 cm standard length, but usually about 12 to 15 cm, those in tropical waters smaller than those in northern waters.

Mainly marine, pelagic,coastaland forming large schools,but recorded down to 400 m depth off West Africa and descending in winter to 100 to 150 m depth in the Mediterranean;euryhaline, tolerating salinities of 5 to 41°/oo and in some areas entering lagoons, estuaries or lakes, especially in the warmer months during the spawning season. A tendency to extend into more northern waters in summer and generally to move into the surface layers, retreating and descending in winter.Feeds on planktonic organisms, especially calanoid copepods, cirrepede and mollusk larvae, and fish eggs and larvae. Spawning over an extended period from April to November with peaks usually in the warmest months, the limits of the spawning season dependent on temperature and thus more restricted in northern areas. Eggs ellipsoidal to oval, floating in the upper 50 m, hatching in 24 to 65 hours.

Chiefly caught in the Mediterranean and Black Seas area (508 959 t in 1995) but also in Eastern Central Africa (83 746 t) and Northeast Atlantic (26 564 t) areas. Three fourth of the Mediterranean catches are reported by Turkey. Total catches have exceeded 800 000 t in 1984 and 1988 but, since 1950, they have never been less than 140 000 t. Caught by purse seines, lampara nets, beach seines and also by midwater trawl in winter. The recorded catch in 1996 for FAO Statistics was 527 486 t Usually canned, salted or processed, but also marketed fresh or frozen in African countries.