Engraulidae Gill 1861

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 16

Family Engraulidae Gill 1861 ( Fig. 2J ). Anchovies; Anchoas, Anchovetas, Boquerones, Plásticas

Description: Body elongate, herring-like, slightly compressed; up to 35 cm in length; snout blunt, prominent, upper jaw projecting beyond the tip of the lower jaw in most species; rear of the mouth extending well behind the eye; lower jaw suspended below the head; jaw teeth usually absent, small or minute; pelvic fins inserted well behind the pectoral fins and before the dorsal-fin base; abdominal scutes absent; body often translucent and with a silver stripe down the side in some ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine, occasionally freshwater; Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans (Nelson et al. 2016). Three genera and thirteen species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 1; Carcharhinidae (A), Pristidae (B), Dasyatidae (C), Potamotrygonidae (D), Lepisosteidae (E), Elopidae (F), Megalopidae (G), Ophichthidae (H), Anguillidae (I), Engraulidae (J), Pristigasteridae (K), Dorosomatidae (L) and Cyprinidae (M). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).