Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Clupeiformes
(Herrings) > Engraulidae
(Anchovies) > Engraulinae
Etymology: Stolephorus: Greek, stole, -es = garment + Greek, pherein = to carry (Ref. 45335). More on authors: Jordan & Seale.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 189). Tropical; 25°N - 21°S, 71°E - 151°E (Ref. 189)
Indo-Pacific: western Indian Ocean (from Cochin and southern tip of India to Myanmar) and western Pacific (Thailand, Java Sea, the Philippines, probably Irian Jaya, if not also Papua New Guinea, south to Queensland; perhaps even more widespread). Its geographical overlap and similarity to S. insularis cast doubts on the several Indian studies of `insularis'. One of the commonest species of genus Stolephorus.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 8.4  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 9.4 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 189); common length : 6.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 189)
soft rays: 18 - 20. Belly with 5 to 7 small needle-like pre-pelvic scutes. Maxilla tip pointed, reaching to hind border of pre-operculum, the latter almost always convex, rounded. Pelvic fin tips only rarely reaching to below dorsal fin origin. Numerous black spots below level of eye and on tip of lower jaw, by which it is generally distinguished from other species; a dark patch behind occiput.
A pelagic, schooling species found in coastal waters. Caught mainly with seines (beach and purse), traps often using light, incidentally with bottom trawls. Marketed fresh, dried, dried-salted or made into fish meal, fish sauce fish balls and used as bait (Ref. 9822).
Munroe, T.A. and M. Nizinski, 1999. Engraulidae. Anchovies. p. 1698-1706. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the WCP. Vol. 3. Batoid fishes, chimaeras and bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). FAO, Rome. (Ref. 9822)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 120744)
CITES (Ref. 118484)
Threat to humans
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969
): 26.7 - 29.1, mean 28.4 (based on 1120 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00447 (0.00239 - 0.00836), b=3.07 (2.91 - 3.23), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.3 ±0.4 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Generation time: 6.7 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median LN(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179
): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.16).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (10 of 100) .