It is a small schooling fish found in depth of 0–50 m in most of the tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific oceans, including Madagascar and Mauritius eastward and towards Hong Kong and further east to Papua New Guinea in westwards.

Body color is same as other engraulids, where body is light transparent fleshy brown with a pair of dark patches behind occiput, followed by a pair of lines to dorsal fin origin.

[2] This fish, with the much larger Indian anchovy, is part of the cuisine of the South- and Southeast Asian marine regions.

[3] It can be crisp-fried, used to make fish-based culinary products like fish sauce or in curries.

In Sri Lanka, this variety of fish is made into a tasty snack by dipping in a batter of flour, then rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried in oil.