Stolephorus commersonnii

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
Stolephorus indicus (larger specimens) with Commerson's anchovy (smaller specimens)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Engraulidae
Genus: Stolephorus
Species:
S. commersonnii
Binomial name
Stolephorus commersonnii
Synonyms
  • Anchovia commersoniana (Lacepède, 1803)
  • Anchoviella commersonii (Lacepède, 1803)
  • Stolephorus commerrianus Lacepède, 1803
  • Stolephorus commerson Lacepède, 1803
  • Stolephorus commersoni Lacepède, 1803
  • Stolephorus commersonianus Lacepède, 1803
  • Stolephorus commersonii Lacepède, 1803
  • Clupea tuberculosa Lacepède, 1803
  • Stolephorus rex Jordan & Seale, 1926
  • Anchoviella indica (non Hasselt, 1823) misapplied
  • Stolephorus indicus (non Hasselt, 1823) misapplied
  • Anchoviella holodon (non Boulenger, 1900) misapplied
  • Stolephorus holodon (non Boulenger, 1900) misapplied

Description

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

Indian anchovy usually feeds on surface plankton. Female lay oval eggs in grassy sea beds.[2]

Human use

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.

Vernacular names

Commerson's anchovy is known as:

  • Dilis in Filipino
  • Haalmassa (හාල්මැස්සා) in Sinhala
  • Netthallu (నెత్తళ్ళు) in Telugu[4]

See also

References
  1. 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.
  2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Stolephorus commersonnii" in FishBase. June 2022 version.
  3. "Dried Anchovy (Stolephorus commersonii) | tradekorea".
  4. Purnachand, GV (3 March 2013). "చేపా! చేపా! నీ పేరే౦టి?". Dr. GV Purnachand's Blog. GV Purnachand. Retrieved 21 October 2018.


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