stolephorus

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of fishes, related to the herrings, but with a produced snout, and a broad silvery band which has been compared to the white stole or band worn by priests, typical of the family Stolephoridæ (or Engraulididæ). The common anchovy is S. encrasicholus. There are several others, as S. browni, from Cape Cod to Brazil, abounding southward; S. ringens, from Vancouver Island to Peru, a large anchovy; S. delicatissimus and S. compressus, of the Californian and Mexican coasts, the latter locally known as sprat (see sprat, 2). This genus has been oftener called Engraulis. See cut under anchovy.