TENCH

(species Tinca tinca), widely distributed European food and sport fish of the carp family Cyprinidae (order Cypriniformes), noted for its ability to survive low oxygen conditions. The tench is a stout, small-scaled fish with a barbel at each corner of its mouth and a thick, slimy skin. It is greenish or blackish and usually 1835 cm (714 inches) long with a weight of about 2 kg (4 1/2 pounds). Most abundant in quiet, mud-bottomed waters thick with plants, it feeds mainly on small animals and plants. It was once thought able to cure injured fishes and was also applied to human wounds. The golden tench is a red-gold variety of the species sometimes kept in ponds.