Anchovies as food Anchovies as food Anchovies are a family (Engraulidae) of small, common salt-water forage fish. There are 144 species in 17 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Anchovies are usually classified as an oily fish. They are small, green fish with blue reflections due to a silver longitudinal stripe that runs from the base of the caudal fin. They range from to in adult length, and the body shape is variable with more slender fish in northern populations. A traditional method of processing and preserving anchovies is to gut and salt them in brine, allow them to mature,
Melanotaenia fluviatilis colourful fish, hence their name. Their sides are silvery-brown, and have a green or silver sheen. A blue stripe extends from the snout to the caudal fin. The other fins are yellow and marked with orange or red. In males, several orange stripes run laterally across the posterior half of the body. Males have red spots on the dorsal, anal and caudal fins, with a blackish margin when breeding. Females are less intensely coloured, lacking some of the brilliance and red stripes along the caudal peduncle. Australian rainbowfish are omnivorous. They feed on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates and some filamentous