CreatureData

Tench

Tinca tinca (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernbony fish

The tench (Tinca tinca) is a bony fish in the family Tincidae, within the order Cypriniformes and the class Teleostei. It is also called the doctor fish or Eurasian tench, and its scientific name carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).

Tench (Tinca tinca)
Photo: Mattia Nocciola · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the tench

The IUCN Red List places the tench in the Least Concern category in its global assessment, which is not a threatened category.

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
freshwater, riverinesrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the tench

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Tench (Tinca tinca)
Dugmore, A. Radclyffe; Evermann, Barton Warren; Jordan, David Starr · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Tench (Tinca tinca)
MAKY.OREL · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Tench (Tinca tinca)
Karelj · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Tench (Tinca tinca)
Berger, Daniel · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Tench (Tinca tinca)
Berger, F · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Tench (Tinca tinca)
Walter, Emil · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Tench (Tinca tinca)
Yarrell, William · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the tench live?

Not recorded

What is the tench?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The tench or doctor fish (Tinca tinca) is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including Britain and Ireland east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also found in Lake Baikal. It normally inhabits slow-moving freshwater habitats, particularly lakes and lowland rivers.

From the Wikipedia article “Tench” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tench&oldid=1360740969), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the tench endangered?

The tench is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the tench classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderCypriniformes
  5. familyTincidae
  6. genusTinca
  7. SpeciesTinca tinca (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Cyprinus tinca, Cyprinus tinca auratus, Cyprinus tincaauratus, Cyprinus tincauratus, Cyprinus tincaurea, Cyprinus zeelt, Leuciscus communis, Tinca aurea, Tinca chrysitis, Tinca communis, Tinca italica, Tinca limosa, Tinca linnei, Tinca vulgaris, Tinca vulgaris, Tinca vulgaris cestellae, Tinca vulgaris maculata, Tinca vulgaris var. cestellae

Other names and names in other languages (66)
  • Doctor fishEnglish
  • Eurasian tenchEnglish
  • SeeltAfrikaans
  • التنشArabic
  • LilbalıqAzerbaijani
  • ҠарабалыҡBashkir
  • ЛіньBelarusian
  • Хура карасChuvash
  • Lín obecnýCzech
  • sgretenWelsh
  • SgretenodWelsh
  • suderDanish
  • SchleiGerman
  • SchleieGerman
  • SchleihGerman
  • ΓλήνιGreek
  • ΓλίνιGreek
  • ΓλυνίGreek
  • ΛασπόψαροGreek
  • ΧρυσόψαροGreek
  • TinkoEsperanto
  • tencaSpanish
  • LinaskEstonian
  • لایماهیPersian
  • suutariFinnish
  • tanchFrench
  • tancheFrench
  • MûdhûnWestern Frisian
  • CúramánIrish
  • LinjakCroatian
  • CompóHungarian
  • TenchoIdo
  • GrunnungurIcelandic
  • TincaItalian
  • テンチJapanese
  • გუწუGeorgian
  • ლოქორიაGeorgian
  • ОңғақKazakh
  • lynasLithuanian
  • Paprastasis lynasLithuanian
  • LīnisLatvian
  • ТуткаMoksha
  • ТотоMari
  • ТатыWestern Mari
  • ТуткоErzya
  • suterNorwegian Bokmål
  • zeeltDutch
  • suterNorwegian Nynorsk
  • linPolish
  • linRomanian
  • линьRussian
  • Линь обыкновенныйRussian
  • Lieň sliznatýSlovak
  • linjSlovenian
  • linaAlbanian
  • sutareSwedish
  • КарабалыкTatar
  • kadife baligiTurkish
  • kadife balığıTurkish
  • ЛинUkrainian
  • Лин звичайнийUkrainian
  • TéncaVenetian
  • Cá hanhVietnamese
  • TienkeWest Flemish
  • 丁鱥Chinese
  • 丁鱥科Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the tench

Other species in the same order Cypriniformes.

LC, Least Concern
Goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Goldfish

Carassius auratus

Cyprinidae

LC, Least Concern
Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Grass carp

Ctenopharyngodon idella

Cyprinidae

LC, Least Concern
Common rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)

Common rudd

Scardinius erythrophthalmus

Cyprinidae

CompareTench vs GoldfishTench vs Common carpTench vs Common breamTench vs Common roach

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the tench?

The tench is a bony fish. It belongs to the family Tincidae in the order Cypriniformes.

What is the scientific name of the tench?

The scientific name of the tench is Tinca tinca. It is placed in the genus Tinca.

Is the tench endangered?

No. The tench is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in its global assessment, which is not a threatened category.

What other names does the tench have?

The tench is also called the doctor fish and the Eurasian tench.

What family does the tench belong to?

The tench belongs to the family Tincidae, in the class Teleostei.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Tench (Tinca tinca). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/tench

MLA

“Tench (Tinca tinca).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/tench.

BibTeX
@misc{tench_2026,
  title = {Tench (Tinca tinca)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/tench},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}