Fish Iowa - Fish Species - Longnose dace

Fish Species Profile DNR Homepage
image of Longnose dace

Characteristics

Olive-green to brown on the back and upper sides shading to white on the belly. Darkened scale pockets give the sides a mottled look, and the lateral band is indistinct in adults. Breeding males are washed with pink on the lower parts of the body. There are 61 to 73 scales in the complete lateral line. Hooked pharyngeal teeth are arranged in a 2, 4-4, 2 pattern, but this formula may vary. The upper jaw and snout greatly overhangs the lower jaw, and a barbel is present at the tip of the maxillary. A silver peritoneum speckled with brown covers the gut cavity, and the air bladder is simple. Dorsal and pelvic fins have 8 rays, while the anal fin has 7 rays, and the pectoral fins have from 13 to 15 rays.

Foods

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Expert Tip

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Details

The Longnose Dace spawns over clean sand or gravel in swift current in April and May. Adults are 4- to 5-inches long at maturity and live in riffles of gravel and boulder.

Recent stream sampling information is available from Iowa DNR's biological monitoring and assessment program.

Distribution Map

Iowa water body distribution image of Longnose dace

Confined to the extreme northeast corner of Iowa. Collections have been recorded in the Upper Iowa, Yellow, Turkey, Volga, and the upper reaches of the Maquoketa Rivers, where they are common in nearly all samples.

See our most recent distribution data for this species on the Iowa DNR's Bionet application.

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