Common dace
species of ray-finned fish
The common dace (Leuciscus leuciscus) is a species of freshwater and brackish water ray-finned fish from the family Leuciscidae which is native to Europe but which has been introduced to other parts of the world. It is a quarry species for coarse anglers.
Description
The common dace differs from other members in the genus Leuciscus found in Europe by its inferior mouth, slightly longer upper jaw which has the tip of the upper lip level with the centre line of the eye and the lack of an obvious snout. It has a yellowish iris and a body which is covered in large silvery scales, the lateral line having 49–52 scales. The anal fin has a concave margin and the caudal fin is forked. The dorsal fin has 2–3 spines and 7–9 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8–9 soft rays. The maximum size attained is a total length of 30 centimetres (12 in).
Distribution
The common dace is native to Europe and northern Asia where it occurs in the basins of the North Sea, Baltic Sea, White Sea and Barents Sea. It also occurs in the basin of the Caspian Sea in the drainage systems of the Volga and Ural Rivers and in the Black Sea basin it is found in the Danube and the Dnieper. In France it occurs in the Seine River drainage and in the drainages of the Rhone and Arc which flow into the Mediterranean.
“Common dace” enters the record as species of ray-finned fish. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Common, dace and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q143326. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Common dace” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.