This species is observed in brackish lagoons from the start of spring to the end of summer; leaves the lagoons in autumn to the nearby coastal marine waters. It is presumed to spawn in lagoons in the summer (based on the observation of concentrations of small-sized anchovies together with large densities of eggs in the Thau lagoon, southern France, in July and on the presence of sexually mature individuals, 8-9 cm SL, in the Mauguio and Prevost lagoons, southern France, observed as early as May. In the northern Adriatic Sea, it lives at salinities less than 38 psu and depths less than 50 m (Ref. 76782).