Either of two small marine fishes formerly classified in the family
Salmonidæ, now within the smelt family
Osmeridae:
Mallotus villosus, very abundant on the coasts of Greenland, Iceland, Newfoundland, and Alaska; or
Mallotus catervarius, found in the North Pacific. The Atlantic variety has been used as a bait for the cod. [
1913 Webster]
" This fish, which is like a smelt, is called by the Spaniards anchova, and by the Portuguese capelina. However the anchovy used as a food is a different fish." Fisheries of U. S. (1884).
[1913 Webster]