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,
Plains topminnow The plains topminnow also has bronze reflections with faint blue-green cross-hatching on its back and sides. Its fins are colorless or yellowish in immature fish, females and non-breeding males. There are no black bars on the fish’s body, which makes it distinguishable from the banded killifish, a more common species, which is often found in the same habitats as the plains topminnow. Two other distinct features of the plains topminnow are its rounded caudal fin and the absence of an externally visible lateral line. The plains topminnow has 33 to 37 ctenoid scales in its lateral line. The dorsal fin