138 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 



The Dace {Leuciscus vulgaris) 



Fins. 

 Dorsal : 9 or lo rays. 

 Anal : 10 or 11 rays. 

 Ventral : 9 or 10 rays. 

 Pectoral : 15 to 17 rays. 

 Caudal : 19 rays. 



Teeth. 

 Pharyngeal only, in two 

 rows on each side of 

 the throat, containing 

 respectively 3 and 5 

 teeth. 



The adult dace is a much more elegant fish than the chub, 

 although in the juvenile stages the two fish so closely resemble 

 each other as to puzzle some people about their identity. 

 The surest distinction between these kindred species is their 

 colour. The sides of the dace reflect none but silvery or 

 steely tints ; the tail fin is not darker than the back, as in the 

 chub, neither are the ventral and anal fins red as in that fish, 

 but greenish, the ventral fins having only a faint roseate tinge. 

 The back of the dace is dark olive, but changes to silver on 

 the sides much sooner than in the chub. 



The name " dace " is explained by philologists to be the 

 mutilated remains of " darce," which is the form given to it 

 in Babees Book (fifteenth century). The original sound is more 

 nearly preserved in the English synonyms " dare " and " dart." 

 It represents the old French dars or darx^ from the Low Latin 

 dardus^ a dart or javelin. The assumption is that the fish 

 earned the title from its swift, darting movements ; although 

 it must be owned that it is quite as applicable, on that 

 ground, to many other fish. 



The small, rounded head, less than one-fifth of the whole 

 length, the elongated yet graceful body, the brilliant eye, with 

 its yellow iris shot with red and green, the glittering silver 

 mail and finely-shaped fins, combine to make the dace the most 

 comely and distinguished-looking of English carps. The tail 

 fin is a powerful, symmetrical propeller, deeply cleft into two 

 pointed lobes. 



The dace prefers streams with a gentle current, and with 

 plenty of gravelly shallows, but it is also found in lakes on the 



