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.
| Commerson's anchovy | |
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_with_commerson%27s_anchovy_(smaller_specimens)_in_a_lab.jpg)
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| Stolephorus indicus (larger specimens) with Commerson's anchovy (smaller specimens) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Clupeiformes |
| Family: | Engraulidae |
| Genus: | Stolephorus |
| Species: | S. commersonnii
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| Binomial name | |
| Stolephorus commersonnii Lacépède, 1803
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| Synonyms | |
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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
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.) (2022). "Stolephorus commersonnii" in FishBase. June 2022 version.
- ^ "Dried Anchovy (Stolephorus commersonii) | tradekorea".
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