Peruvian anchoveta (Engraulis ringens)
Peruvian anchovetas form large shoals close to the coasts of Peru and Chile. Feeding almost entirely on plankton in the Peruvian current, populations can be badly affected by the El Niño phenomenon. Large numbers of birds depend on the anchoveta shoals for their food supply.
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About the Peruvian anchoveta
The Peruvian anchoveta (Engraulis ringens) is a fish of the anchovy family, Engraulidae.
Anchoveta are pelagic fish in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, and are regularly caught on the coasts of Peru, and Chile. They live for up to 4 years, reaching 20 cm, with recruitment occurring after only about 6 months when they have already grown over 8cm. Anchoveta eat mostly phytoplankton, but their diet also includes small zooplankton and larvae.
After a period of plenty in the late 1960s, the population was greatly reduced during the 1972 El Niño event, when warm water drifted over the cold Humboldt Current, and lowering the depth of the thermocline. Nutrient rich waters were then no longer upwelled and phytoplankton production decreased, leaving the anchoveta with a depleted food source.
Since the mid 1980s, the Peruvian anchoveta has again become very abundant, with current catch levels being comparable to those of the 1960s. The anchoveta is almost exclusively used for making fishmeal, and in fact Peru produces some of the highest quality fishmeal in the world.
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Scientific Classification
Family: Engraulidae
Genus: Engraulis
Species: Peruvian anchoveta (ringens)
Common Names
Peruvian anchovy
Elsewhere on the web
- Encyclopedia of Life entry (eol.org)
- UN Fisheries and Aquaculture Dept fact sheet (fao.org)
- Peruvian anchoveta fact file (fishbase.org)
- Peruvian anchoveta (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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