The Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens) is a fish of the anchovy family, Engraulidae.

Anchovy are pelagic fish in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, and are regularly caught on the coasts of Peru, and Chile. They live for up to 4 years, reaching 20 cm, with recruitment occurring after only about 6 months when they have already grown over 8 cm. It was previously thought that anchoveta ate mostly phytoplankton, small zooplankton, and larvae. However, recent work has shown that anchoveta get most of their energy from zooplankton and macrozooplankton (Espinoza & Bertrand 2008, Espinoza et al. 2009). Euphausiids and large copepods are the most important dietary components.