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,
Nannostomus unifasciatus with a small terminal mouth, and an adipose fin. It has one black longitudinal stripe that runs the length of the body and onto the caudal fin. The single black stripe is bordered above by a thin metallic gold band. The caudal is colored variously depending on the geographic population. Most all forms have red or orange pigment of varying intensity in the lower quadrant of the caudal, ventral to the black stripe. In some especially colorful populations, the red pigment extends above the black stripe as well, as pictured above. The Guyanese population, as well as one form from