20 The Dace or Dare. 



IV. 



THE DACE, DAKE, OK SHOWLEK. 

 {Called ALBICELLA by the Romans.} 



PLATE xni. 3. 



I] HE Dace is a handsome-looking fish, seldom 

 weighing more than three-quarters of a pound, 

 and is found in almost all rivers where trout 

 are to be met with, and in most brooks which 

 run sluggishly, but seldom in rapid, running, gravelly 

 becks. He is a smarter fish than the chub or chevin, but 

 very like him, being scaled in the same way, yet seldom 

 of so yellow a cast ; like him, also, in inferiority of his 

 flesh and the number of small bones which it contains. 

 Indeed, it is comparatively useless as an edible fish, al- 

 though some Anglers commend its roe. Moreover, he 

 affords good sport for youths and amateurs, since he rises 

 at the fly greedily when on the feed. He is generally 

 best taken by sinking the flies a little under water, and 

 by using a maggot or cad-bait, clapbait or bluebottle-fly 

 therewith. His haunts are still pools or gentle streams, 

 and generally the open parts and shallows. 



Dace spawn in March, and are reckoned in best season 

 in the winter. The best time to angle for them is in the 

 evening until dark. 



SCIENTIFIC DESCRIPTION. 



ORDER IV. Abdominales. Ventral fins on the abdomen, 

 behind the pectoral. 



GENUS CYPRINUS. Cyprinus Leudscus. Dace. 



