분류계보/경골상강/Superclass Osteichthyes(bony fishes)→조기강/Class Actinopterygii(ray-finned fishes)→청어목 Order Clupeiformes→멸치과(Family Engraulidae/Anchovies)

멸치과 Family Engraulidae(Anchovies)
세계에 17속 150종이 알려져 있으며 한국에는 5속 9종이 알려져 있다. 대서양, 인도양, 태평양, 지중해, 흑해의 열대와 온대 해역에 걸쳐 분포한다. 무리를 지어 다니는 물고기로 대부분 연안 얕은 수심에서 발견되며 기수에서도 발견되며 남아메리카에 사는 몇 종은 담수에서만 산다. 멸치류는 크기가 작으며 몸색은 녹색을 띠면서 청색이 반사되는데 청색이 반사되는 이유는 꼬리지느러미에서부터 수평으로 체측에 은빛 줄 무늬가 나타나 있기 때문이다. 주둥이는 뭉툭하고 주둥이에 특이한 로스트랄 기관(rostral organ/문측기관/吻側器管)이 있다. 로스트랄 기관은 먹이가 내는 약한 전기적 자극을 감지할 수 있는 전기감각기라고 하는데 정확한 기능은 알려지지 않았다.

Anchovies(Family Engraulidae)
17 genera with 150 species worldwide, 5 genera with 9 species in Korea. Distribute in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.  Schooling fishes, mostly of shallow coastal waters and estuaries in tropical and temperate regions. some in South America are restricted to fresh water. Anchovies are small, green fish with blue reflections due to a silver-colored longitudinal stripe that runs from the base of the caudal fin. The snout is blunt. The snout contains a unique rostral organ, believed to be sensory in nature, although its exact function is unknown.

Mouth inferior. Upper jaw produced. Jaw teeth well developed to absent. Gill rakers on lower limb o f first arch 10-50 or more. Branchiostegal rays 7-19. A silvery stripe down flanks. Body translucent. Abdominal scutes present in most Old World anchovies; absent in New World anchovies, except for one pelvic scute. Luminescent organs noted in one species. They range from 2 to 50 cm in adult length, most species below 15 cm, and their body shapes are variable with more slender fish in northern populations.

Anchovies are found in scattered areas throughout the world's oceans, but are concentrated in temperate waters, and are rare or absent in very cold or very warm seas. They are generally very accepting of a wide range of temperatures and salinity. Large schools can be found in shallow, brackish areas with muddy bottoms, as in estuaries and bays. The European anchovy is abundant in the Mediterranean, particularly in the Alboran Sea, Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. Mostly filter feeding on zooplankton and recently hatched fish. Anchovies, like most clupeoids(herrings, sardines and anchovies), are filter-feeders that open their mouths as they swim. As water passes through the mouth and out the gills, food particles are sieved by gill rakers and transferred into the esophagus. The anchovy is a significant food source for almost every predatory fish in its environment. Commercially important for food and fish meal; also used as bait.