European Anchovy

Identification

The anchovy is a small, slender silvery fish of 10 to 15 cm with a notably large mouth extending well behind the eye. The back is blue-green, flanks and belly silvery. The lower jaw is shorter than the upper. The body is fragile and round in cross-section.

Behavior & ecology

Lives in large schools in coastal waters and estuaries. A plankton filter feeder that swims with open mouth filtering plankton from the water. Prefers relatively warm water (above 12°C) and moves northward into the North Sea in summer.

In the Netherlands

The anchovy was historically enormously important: the Zuiderzee catch was one of the most important Dutch fisheries for centuries. After the closure of the Zuiderzee in 1932, this fishery disappeared. Today, anchovy still occurs in the Wadden Sea, Westerschelde, and along the North Sea coast, with numbers increasing due to climate change.