Australian anchovy

Taxobox
name = Australian Anchovy


image_caption = Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Clupeiformes
familia = Engraulidae
genus = "Engraulis"
species = "E. australis"
binomial = "Engraulis australis"
binomial_authority = Hardy, 1987

The Australian anchovy, "Engraulis australis", is an anchovy of the family Engraulidae, found off south east Australia, and around New Zealand, near the surface in bays, inlets, and estuaries.

The Australian anchovy is elongate and cigar-shaped and has the undershot lower jaw typical of all anchovies. They are pale silver-green above and silver-white below. They are the main baitfish found in the areas where they live, forming large schools in the summer. These schools are attacked by gannets, shearwaters, and terns from above, and from kahawai, yellowtail kingfish, and dolphins from below, the frenzied activity sometimes drawing the attention of sharks.

The Australian anchovy feeds on plankton.

References

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* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8