Tench (tinca Tinca)
The tench, a sturdy fish, is distinguished by its scales, which are very firmly rooted in the skin. At each corner of its mouth there is a small barbel. The tench's eyes are unusually small. The back is brown-green, the sides have a golden sheen and the belly is creamy-yellow. It is one of the few European fishes whose sex can be recognized at first sight, for the males have longer and stronger pelvic fins than the females. The tench lives in slow flowing rivers, in old river backwaters and oxbow lakes, where the water is often overgrown with vegetation. However, it is also artificially reared in carp ponds. It generally stays close to the bottom, where it feeds on small vertebrates. It spawns prolifically at the end of May and in June on water plants. In cold or very warm seasons it stops eating and buries itself in the mud; so it can tolerate very low oxygen levels in the water. In northern Germany, France and some other countries the tench is a favourite delicacy and is economically very important. It is dispersed all over Europe with the exception of the northern parts of Scandinavia and the USSR, Scotland, Dalmatia and the Crimea. However, it can also be found in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea.
Maximum size and weight:
60 cm, 6 kg. Identifying characteristics: Scales small and firmly rooted in skin. Fins rounded, eyes small; two small barbels at the corners of mouth
