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,
Oplopomus oplopomus stripe, while the second dorsal fin is studded with small dark spots. The pectoral fin is also covered with small spots. The base of the anal fin and the rear portion of the ventral fins are black. The caudal fin has a stripe running through the center. Males have more intense blue markings than females. Juveniles have more black spots and less yellow and blue spots than the adults. Spinecheek gobies belong to the genus "Oplopomus" of the goby family, Gobiidae. The species was first described by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes in 1837 as "Gobius oplopomus". Spinecheek gobies are