Thryssa mystax is silver, darker dorsally. There is a distinctive dark blotch behind upper part of gill opening, which can easily identify the species from other "Thryssa" species. Caudal fin is yellowish. It feeds on planktons, fish larva, and small crustaceans like shrimp larva. Thryssa mystax The moustached thryssa ("Thryssa mystax"), also known as Gangetic anchovy, is a species of oceanodromous ray-finned fish in the family Engraulidae. It is found in the tropical western Indo-Pacific region from India, Sri Lanka to Myanmar and south to Java, and Indonesia. It is a small schooling fish found in depth of 0-50m. Maximum length do
Novaculichthys taeniourus has a dark greenish-brown body with an elongated white spot on each scale. Its head is gray-blue with brown lines radiated from the eyes. Two black spots occur in front of the dorsal fin and a wide vertical white bar is found on the base of the caudal fin. The posterior part of the caudal fin and the pelvic fins are black. Juveniles found in Hawaii are usually green and those in the western Pacific are burgundy to brownish. Both are spotted in white. The difference in appearance between juvenile and adult "N. taeniourus" is so striking, the common name