Family Engraulidae are the anchovies, a group of small, planktivorous fishes which are deceptively relevant. Anchovies are characterized by their long upper jaws with overhanging snout as well as large, round mouths. They usually inhabit shallow inshore areas of oceans (although there are a few freshwater species). Incidentally, Peruvian Anchovies (pictured) currently support the world's largest fishery, providing not only food for humans, but also food (in the form of fishmeal) for aquaculture operations worldwide. While many argue that harvesting (and usually OVER-harvesting) small fishes such as these to be fed to big fishes in captivity is hardly an effective solution to the fact that humans have collapsed most natural fish stocks, the effort still goes on, making these little guys a pretty big deal.
