Thryssa mystax

Thryssa mystax, the moustached thryssa or Gangetic anchovy, is a species of oceanodromous ray-finned fish in the family Engraulidae. It is found in the tropical western Indo-Pacific region from India, Sri Lanka to Myanmar and south to Java, and Indonesia.^[1]

Moustached thryssa
Thryssa mystax
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Clupeiformes
Family:	Engraulidae
Genus:	Thryssa
Species:	T. mystax
Binomial name
Thryssa mystax (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801)[2]
Synonyms
Clupea mystax Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Engraulis mystax (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Scutengraulis mystax (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Thrissocles mystax (Bloch & Schneider, 1801 ) Thrissa mystax (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Clupea subspinosa Swainson, 1839 Thryssa subspinosa (Swainson, 1839) Thryssa poorawa Jerdon, 1851 Thryssa poorawah Jerdon, 1851 Engraulis mystacoides Bleeker, 1852 Stolephorus valenciennesi Bleeker, 1866 Scutengraulis valenciennesi (Bleeker, 1866) Thryssa valenciennesi (Bleeker, 1866) Engraulis hornelli Fowler, 1924

It is a small schooling fish found in depths up to 50 m (160 ft). Maximum length does not exceed 15.5 cm (6.1 in). The fish has 11 to 12 dorsal soft rays and only present 29 to 37 anal soft rays. There are 24 to 32 keeled scutes from isthmus to anus on belly region. Lower gill rakers are serrated. Body is silver, darker dorsally. There is a distinctive dark blotch behind upper part of gill opening, which can easily identify the species from other Thryssa species. Caudal fin is yellowish.^[3] It feeds on plankton, fish larvae, and small crustaceans like shrimp larvae.