Atlantic sabretooth anchovy
(Lycengraulis grossidens)

Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous

Western Atlantic: Belize (but no southerly records until Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela); then from Gulf of Venezuela and Trinidad south to Argentina at Carmen de Patagones; also lower and sometimes middle parts of the Orinoco, the Amazon to above Manaus, and Paraná to about Corrientes, and in smaller rivers.

Max lengt : 23.5 cm SL, common length : 20 cm TL

Max. published weight: 57 g

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-14; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 21 - 28.

Depth widely variable. Snout about 2/3 eye diameter; maxilla moderate, pointed, reaching onto sub-operculum. Gill rakers short, the longest not less than pupil diameter in adults. Dorsal fin origin behind midpoint of body; anal fin origin below 6th-8th branched dorsal fin rays.

Silver stripe up to twice eye diameter at widest, lost in fishes over 10 cm SL. Curve of black dots on operculum. Grayish blue dorsally, fins yellowish with translucent membranes and a blackish caudal margin.

Occurs in brackish estuaries and adjacent marine areas; penetrates freshwater. Forms moderate schools. Usually migrating from estuaries or the sea, but possibly the limnichthys of Lake Maracaibo and the amazonensis represent purely freshwater forms.

In freshwater, it feeds principally on small fishes, prawns and copepods; also insect larvae.

At sea, it feeds on fishes and various crustaceans.

Spawns in freshwater.

Year round occurrence of eggs reported.