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,
Terapon puta longer and extends as far or beyond opercular margin. "Terapon puta" is silvery-grey with four longitudinal, parallel stripes which extend from the head to the caudal fin, upper three stripes are black, the lowermost stripe is paler and varies from yellowish to brown. There is a large black spot on the upper part of front part dorsal fin. Grows to 15 cm standard length, but more usually 5–12 cm. "Terapon puta" has an Indo-Pacific distribution from the Red Sea south to Zanzibar and through entire Indian Ocean to the Philippines and northern Australia It was first recorded in the Mediterranean