Tench (Tinca tinca) is a freshwater, brackish species recorded in the United States. It is found at depths of ≥ 1 m.
Scientific name: Tinca tinca · Water: Freshwater, Brackish
Size: up to 70 cm
The tench is a demersal tincid typically found in shallow, densely vegetated lakes and backwaters, recorded from 1 m downwards with no maximum depth recorded, and it is also found in brackish water. Larvae and juveniles are confined to dense vegetation, adults inhabit warm lakes and pools with a weed and mud bottom, and they often lie buried in mud through the cold months. It tolerates low oxygen saturations and feeds on detritus, benthic animals and plant materials, adults often preying mainly on molluscs; it spawns among dense vegetation in still water. Its range is Eurasia, hypothesized as native in most of Europe and naturally absent only from Ireland, Scandinavia north of 61 degrees 30 minutes north, the eastern Adriatic basin and western and southern Greece, where it is now introduced, and in Asia native eastward to the western Yenisei drainage south of 60 degrees north; it has been introduced elsewhere. Maximum length is about 70 cm standard length, commonly about 20 cm total length, and it is reported to reach 84 cm total length. It is a commercial species, a commercial aquaculture species, a gamefish and a public aquarium fish, utilized fresh and frozen and used as a fodder fish for bass. Fishing vulnerability is high at 58 of 100 and resilience medium. IUCN lists it as least concern, and it is locally under threat from river engineering.
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