Fish
Redside Dace
Clinostomus elongatus · also called redside daces
Above a clear headwater stream, a redside dace leaps clean out of the water to snatch a flying insect from the air, its vivid red-orange side stripe flashing briefly before it drops back beneath the surface.
Overview
The redside dace, Clinostomus elongatus, is a small, brightly marked fish native to cold, clear headwater streams across a range spanning the Great Lakes region and parts of the eastern United States. Its unusual insect-catching leaps, vivid breeding colouration, and significant declines tied to headwater stream degradation make it one of the more behaviourally distinctive and conservation-significant minnows in North America.
A minnow that hunts above the water
While most minnows feed entirely underwater, the redside dace’s unusually large, upturned mouth lets it break the surface entirely, snatching flying insects out of the air in a hunting style rare among small stream fish.
Status
Near Threatened, having declined significantly in parts of its range, particularly Canada, due to agricultural runoff and other degradation of the cold headwater streams it depends on.
Redside Dace: common questions
How does the redside dace catch flying insects?
This species has an unusually large, upturned mouth that allows it to leap clear out of the water and snatch flying insects from just above the surface, a hunting technique unusual among small minnow species, most of which feed primarily within the water column rather than launching themselves into the air after prey.
Why is the redside dace considered a species of conservation concern?
This species depends on clear, cold headwater streams with clean gravel bottoms, and agricultural runoff, stream channel alteration, and other habitat degradation within its watershed, particularly in parts of Canada, have significantly reduced suitable habitat, contributing to its current conservation status.
How can you identify a redside dace?
Look for a vivid red-orange stripe running along the side of the body in a breeding individual, a bold splash of colour on an otherwise slender, silvery fish, combined with the species' unusually large, upturned mouth adapted for leaping after flying insects.
What kind of stream does the redside dace need?
This species depends specifically on clear, cold headwater streams with clean gravel bottoms, a habitat requirement that makes it particularly sensitive to agricultural runoff, sedimentation, and other watershed disturbance that many more tolerant fish species can better withstand.