Leopard Dace
A small minnow native to the interior river systems of the Fraser and Columbia drainages, the Leopard Dace rarely exceeds five inches and is not a target species. Anglers fishing rocky streams and gravel runs for trout may occasionally pull one in by accident.
Its value is ecological — a sensitive indicator of cool, clean water in the Columbia Basin.
- A slender, pencil-shaped minnow topping out around 12 cm (4.7 in); most fish encountered will be closer to 6 cm (2.4 in).
- Terminal mouth (opening at the tip of the snout, not underneath) and small fleshy projections at the base of the pelvic fins — the pelvic stays — separate it from the closely related Umatilla Dace, which lacks those projections.
- The groove of the upper lip is wide enough to run a pencil along, a trait shared with Speckled Dace but absent in Longnose Dace — useful when sorting similar species in hand.
What to know
Habitat Distribution
- Native to the Fraser and Columbia River drainages, restricted to waters east of the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest of North America.
- A cool-water specialist with an upper lethal temperature around 23°C (73°F); found in flowing pools, gravel runs, and rocky lake margins where temperatures stay well below that threshold.
- Occupies small to medium rivers and creeks rather than large mainstem rivers; also turns up along rocky shorelines of lakes within its range.
Specific Spots
- Gravel runs and shallow flowing pools in small to medium rivers — areas where current delivers drifting insect larvae and, during spring floods, displaced earthworms.
- Rocky margins of lakes within the Columbia and Fraser drainages, where wave action and substrate complexity concentrate invertebrate prey.
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