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ANCHOVY (Engraulis encrasicholus)

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 950 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ANCHOVY (Engraulis encrasicholus) , a See also:fish of the See also:herring See also:family, easily distinguished by its deeply-cleft mouth, the See also:angle of the gape being behind the eyes. The pointed snout extends beyond the See also:lower See also:jaw. The fish resembles a See also:sprat in having a forked tail and a single dorsal fin, but the See also:body is See also:round and slender. The maximum length is 88 in. Anchovies are abundant in the Mediterranean, and are regularly caught on the coasts of See also:Sicily, See also:Italy, See also:France and See also:Spain. The range of the See also:species also extends along the See also:Atlantic See also:coast of See also:Europe to the See also:south of See also:Norway. In See also:winter it is See also:common off See also:Devon and See also:Cornwall, but has not hitherto been caught in such See also:numbers as to be of commercial importance. Off the coast of See also:Holland in summer it is more plentiful, entering the Zuider Zee in such numbers as to give rise to a See also:regular and valuable See also:fishery. It is also taken in the See also:estuary of the See also:Scheldt. There is See also:reason to believe that the anchovies found at the western end of the See also:English Channel in See also:November and See also:December are those which annually migrate from the Zuider Zee and Scheldt in autumn, returning thither in the following See also:spring; they must be held to See also:form an isolated stock, for none come up from the south in summer to occupy the English Channel, though the species is See also:resident on the coast of See also:Portugal. The explanation appears to be that the shallow and landlocked See also:waters of the Zuider Zee, as well as the See also:sea on the Dutch coast, become raised to a higher temperature in summer than any See also:part of the sea about the See also:British coasts, and that there-fore anchovies are able to spawn and maintain their numbers in these waters. Their See also:reproduction and development were first described by a Dutch naturalist from observations made on the shores of the Zuider Zee.

Spawning takes See also:

place in See also:June and See also:July, and the eggs, like those of the See also:majority of marine fishes, are buoyant and transparent, but they are See also:peculiar in having an elongated, sausage-like shape, instead of being globular. They resemble those of the sprat and See also:pilchard in having a segmented yolk and there is no oil globule. The larva is hatched two or Stockless See also:Anchor. screwed and fitted with a phos- A. phor See also:bronze See also:nut to allow the See also:bolt to be withdrawn for ex- amination. A See also:palm is See also:cast on each See also:side of the See also:crown to trip the flukes when the anchor is on A'. the ground, and for bringing them D. snug against the See also:ship's side when C. C'. Sinker. three days after the fertilization of the See also:egg, and is very See also:minute and transparent. In See also:August See also:young specimens i2 to 3i in. in length have been taken in the Zuider Zee, and these must be held to have been derived from the spawning of the previous summer.

There is no See also:

evidence to decide the question whether all the young anchovies as well as the adults leave the Zuider Zee in autumn, but, considering the winter temperature there, it is probable that they do. The eggs have also been obtained from the See also:Bay of See also:Naples, and near See also:Marseilles, also off the coast of Holland, and once at least off the coast of See also:Lancashire. The occurrence of anchovies in the English Channel has been carefully studied at the laboratory of the Marine Biological Association at See also:Plymouth. They were most abundant in 1889 and 1890. In the former See also:year considerable numbers were taken off See also:Dover in See also:drift nets of small mesh used for the See also:capture of sprats. In the following December large numbers were taken together with sprats at See also:Torquay. In November 1890 a thousand of the fish were obtained in two days from the pilchard boats fishing near Ply-mouth; these were caught near the Eddystone. When taken in British waters anchovies are either thrown away or sent to the See also:market fresh with the sprats. If salted in the proper way, they would doubtless be in all respects equal to Dutch anchovies, if not to those imported from Italy. The See also:supply, however, is small and inconstant, and for this reason English fish-curers have not learnt the proper way of preparing them. The so-called " See also:Norwegian anchovies " imported into See also:England in little wooden kegs are nothing but sprats pickled in brine with bay-leaves and whole See also:pepper. (J.

T.

End of Article: ANCHOVY (Engraulis encrasicholus)

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