Bignose Anchovy, Anchoa nasus
Bignose Anchovy, Anchoa nasus. Fish caught from coastal tidal pools on Los Conchas Beach, Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, November 2022. Length: 6.5 cm (2.6 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Bignose Anchovy, Anchoa nasus. Fish caught with with a cast net within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, May 2017. Length: 16 cm (6.3 inches). Identification courtesy of Dr. Robert N. Lea, Monterey, California.
Bignose Anchovy, Anchoa nasus. Fish caught with with a cast net within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, October 2018. Length: 16 cm (6.3 inches).
The Bignose Anchovy, Anchoa nasus, is a member of the Anchovy or Engraulidae Family, and is known in Mexico as anchoa trompuda and as cheral. Globally, there are thirty-five species in the genus Anchoa, of which twenty-three are found in Mexican waters, nine in the Atlantic and fourteen in the Pacific Ocean.
The Bignose Anchovy has an elongated semi-cylindrical body. They are a transparent silvery color with a silver stripe along their flank that is about the size of the eye diameter and that fades in intensity in mature fish. They have a long pointed snout with a projecting upper jaw that is approximately three-fourths the eye diameter. Their mouth is long, extending past the eyes and reaching the gill openings. A key to identification is their anal fin, which has a medium length base and originates under or just behind the last dorsal fin ray. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 20 to 25 rays; their single dorsal fin has a short base and is found mid-body; and, their pectoral fin is short, low on the body, and do not reach the pelvic fin. They have 21 to 28 lower gill rakers.
The Bignose Anchovy is a schooling pelagic inshore species known to enter low-salinity bays and estuaries and are found at depths up to 11 m (35 feet). They reach a maximum of 17.0 cm (6.7 inches) in length. They feed on zooplankton. They reproduce via oviparity with external fertilization with the oval-shaped eggs and larvae being pelagic. The Bignose Anchovy is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Bignose Anchovy is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.
The Bignose Anchovy can be easily confused with a series of small striped Anchovies including the Bright Anchovy, Anchoa lucida, the Gulf Anchovy, Anchoa helleri, the Longfin Pacific Anchovy, Anchoa analis, the Sharpnose Anchovy, Anchoa ischana, the Short Anchovy, Anchoa curta, the Silverstripe Anchovy, Anchoa argentivittata, the Slender Anchovy, Anchoa exigua, and the Yellow Anchovy, Anchoa scofieldi, but all have anal fins inserted under the dorsal fin, except for the Silverstripe Anchovy, which has 17 to 20 lower gill rakers.
From a conservation perspective the Bignose Anchovy is currently considered to be of Least Concern being common with wide distribution and stable populations. They are considered to be a minor commercial fish that are used for human consumption within some parts to their range. They are also used as bait fish or as cut bait.