Argentine anchoita

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Argentine Anchovy
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Clupeiformes Family: Engraulidae Genus: Engraulis Species: E. anchoita
Binomial name
Engraulis anchoita

The Argentine anchoita, Engraulis anchoita, is an anchovy of the genus Engraulis, found in and around waters of Argentina. The species, that at present may be considered almost unexploited (Sánchez & Ciechomski, 1995), plays a key role in the pelagic ecosystem of the Argentine waters.

By biomass, it is the largest fish resource of the southwest Atlantic Ocean (Ciechomski & Sánchez, 1988).

The species constitutes the main component of the diet of several important commercial species such as hake, squid and mackerel (Angelescu, 1982).

South of 34°S at least two populations of E. anchoita occur separately at approximately 41°S: the northern and the Patagonian or southern stock (Hansen et al., 1984).

Northern stock undergoes annual migrations: during winter it is found in the northern part of its distribution area, whereas in spring massive spawning occurs in coastal sectors off the Buenos Aires Province, mostly in waters shallower than 50 m (Sánchez & Ciechomski, 1995; Pájaro, 1998). Then, the reproductive schools disperse into outer shelf waters during summer to feed, returning again to northern waters in winter (Angelescu, 1982; Hansen & Madirolas, 1996; Cousseau and Perrotta, 1998).