The Roach is also known as the Redfin because it has orange-red coloured eyes  and orange-red coloured lower fins. It is a small common freshwater fish that can be found throughout England in canals, freshwater lakes and slow-moving rivers. It can also be found in brackish water. Brackish water is freshwater that meets with saltwater.

The Roach is a slow-moving fish that is around ten to twenty-five centimetres in length. It has a scaly silver-grey body which has a bluish tint to it. It has a small fin on its back called a ‘dorsal’ fin and the edge of this fin looks like it has a fine blue line around it. Its tail is fork-shaped with a yellowy sheen to it.

Roach are more active at dusk when it starts to get light in the morning and at dusk when it starts to get dark in the evening. They eat both plant and animal matter such as water weeds and water plants, insect larvae, small insects and small molluscs. Roach like to live in cool water which is approximately ten degrees Celsius and they swim in a group called a shoal.