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Leopard Dace
Rhinichthys falcatus
Leuciscidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide

About Leopard Dace
Leopard dace (Rhinichthys falcatus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Rhinichthys. It is found in the United States and Canada, where it inhabits the Fraser and Columbia river drainages in British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: algae or phytoplankton; invertebrates or larval fish. These are broad categories, not a claim that every individual consumes every example in a category.
Reported feeding positions include bottom feeding and surface or water-column feeding. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.
Habitat preferences
Reported habitat associations include medium to large rivers, streams and small rivers, creeks.
The source records associations with sand, gravel. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
Reproduction and parental care
The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 2.5 years. Its maturity field summarizes mean, median, or modal estimates, usually for females; male estimates can be used when female data are unavailable. It is not a fixed age at which every fish first breeds.
Recorded spawning months are May, Jun, Jul for the source’s reporting region (WA). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
The reproductive-guild classification includes spawning on open substrates without guarding the brood.
Size and recorded longevity
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 12 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.
Recorded longevity in the compilation is 6.5 years. Wild observations were preferred, but captive records were accepted where wild records were unavailable, and unspecified records were assumed wild. The value is not a guaranteed wild lifespan or an aquarium life expectancy.
Range
Where it lives
Share of records by state
Habitat
Water and movement
- Water
- WoRMS records this species in fresh water.
- Migration
- Undetermined
Classification
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Superclass
- Actinopterygii
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Leuciscidae
- Genus
- Rhinichthys
- Species
- Rhinichthys falcatus
- ITIS TSN
- 163386
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 592845
- GBIF key
- 2359819
- Outside the US
- ITIS also files it in Canada.
Common questions about Leopard Dace
What is the scientific name of Leopard Dace?
Does Leopard Dace live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Leopard Dace been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Rhinichthys species
Same family