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FISH GUIDE · Freshwater

Iberian nase: identification, habitat and fishing guide

Pseudochondrostoma polylepis

Schooling fish of Iberian rivers.

Catalogue names : Iberian nase. Forms and names may vary between habitats.

Editorial review : · This species guide is not permission to fish. Read the precautions below and check the current rules for your location before targeting a species. Some species or populations are protected.

Geographical distribution

Tagus and other Portuguese drainages; introductions in the Júcar and Segura.

  • Documented presence : Tagus drainage
  • Documented presence : Vouga and Mondego in Portugal
  • Introduction : Júcar and Segura in Spain

Documented areas, not an exhaustive list. Presence in a region does not imply presence in every water body or permission to fish.

Distribution sources

Identification

Straight lower-jaw edge; confirmation using a key to the genus is necessary.

The Castile and León account contrasts, among other features, frequent small black spots in P. duriense with their usual absence in P. polylepis. This contrast supplements comparison without being sufficient alone to identify every fish; no invasive counting is recommended.

Habitat

Flowing middle reaches; also in reservoirs.

Diet

Plant material, small invertebrates and detritus.

Behaviour

Schooling, particularly during spawning migration.

Indicative biological size

The ministerial Id-Tax catalogue gives a usual length of 20–30 cm; this descriptive range is not a legal size limit.

Fishing context and precautions

In 2016, Kily describes mixed-species pole fishing in the Rivera de Gata, explicitly naming Tagus nase: float, natural hookbait and a drift checked at intervals.

An indicative adaptation, only after checking the stretch classification, its management plan and permits in Extremadura. Catch-and-release sectors may exclude natural baits; the account demonstrates no rig exclusive to P. polylepis and is not current permission to fish at Moraleja.

A distinctive feature

Males develop tiny nuptial tubercles during spawning.

Sources and review

Each reference includes its access date. Overall editorial review: . Local conditions and regulations may change.

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