Stolephorus commersonnii
| Commerson's anchovy | |
|---|---|
_with_commerson%27s_anchovy_(smaller_specimens)_in_a_lab.jpg)
| |
| Stolephorus indicus (larger specimens) with Commerson's anchovy (smaller specimens) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Clupeiformes |
| Family: | Engraulidae |
| Genus: | Stolephorus |
| Species: | S. commersonnii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Stolephorus commersonnii Lacépède, 1803
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Commerson's anchovy (Stolephorus commersonnii), also known as Devis's anchovy, long-jawed anchovy, Teri anchovy, is a species of anadromous ray-finned fish in the family Engraulidae. It is known as haalmassa in Sri Lanka, where it is widely used as a nutrient-rich fish meat. It is widely used as a live or dead bait in tuna fishery.
Description
[edit]It is a small schooling fish found in depth of 0–50 m in most of the tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific oceans, including Madagascar and Mauritius eastward and towards Hong Kong and further east to Papua New Guinea in westwards.[1] Maximum standard length is 11.2 cm. It has 21–22 anal soft rays. There are 0–5 small needle-like scutes on the belly region. Belly is slightly rounded. Body color is same as other engraulids, where body is light transparent fleshy brown with a pair of dark patches behind occiput, followed by a pair of lines to dorsal fin origin. The silver stripe is present on flanks.[2]
Ecology
[edit]Indian anchovy usually feeds on surface plankton. Female lay oval eggs in grassy sea beds.[2]
Human use
[edit]This fish, with the much larger Indian anchovy, is part of the cuisine of the South- and Southeast Asian marine regions.[3] It can be crisp-fried, used to make fish-based culinary products like fish sauce or in curries. In Sri Lanka, this variety of fish is made into a tasty snack by dipping in a batter of flour, then rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried in oil. It is also popular as a ‘white curry’, i.e.a curry made with coconut milk. A spicier variant is made with dry chilli gravy and served with scraped fresh coconut to offset the hotness of the gravy.[citation needed]
Vernacular names
[edit]Commerson's anchovy is known as:
- Dilis in Filipino
- Haalmassa (හාල්මැස්සා) in Sinhala
- Netthallu (నెత్తళ్ళు) in Telugu
- Ikan Bilis in Malay language
See also
[edit]- List of fish in India
- List of marine bony fishes of South Africa
- List of common commercial fish of Sri Lanka
References
[edit]- ^ a b Munroe, T.A. (2019) [errata version of 2018 assessment]. "Stolephorus commersonnii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T75155918A143836308. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T75155918A143836308.en. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Stolephorus commersonnii". FishBase. June 2022 version.
- ^ "Dried Anchovy (Stolephorus commersonii) | tradekorea".
 | This Clupeiformes article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |