Anchovy
There may not be a more divisive pizza-topping than the anchovy: most people either love them or detest them!
But these little fish are more than a salty snack to accompany your favorite food; whether you order them or avoid them, there are a whole range of species that couldn’t live without them. California brown pelicans, elegant terns, salmon, halibut, and many marine mammals all feed on the anchovy.
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Since so many animals (including people!) eat the anchovy, you might wonder what the anchovy eats. With sharp little teeth in its top and bottom jaws, the anchovy preys on plankton (small floating plants and animals) and small fry (recently-hatched fish). These tiny food sources are perfect for a small fish: the anchovy typically reaches a length of about seven inches – just a little longer than your pencil. Anchovy can be found in cool waters around the world, and the few that end up on your pizza likely came from the Mediterranean near Italy, France, or Spain – 99% of anchovies caught in the United States are used as bait.
