Common bream

The common bream is a silver fish.

It lives in lakes and rivers. It likes to stay near the bottom.

This fish can turn bronze as it gets older. It has a flat body. It uses its mouth to dig for worms. It also eats water plants.

In the spring, the males grow white bumps on their heads. This helps them protect their space. These fish are very good at making many babies.

The common bream is a fish found in Europe.

It lives in lakes, ponds, and slow rivers. These fish like water with muddy bottoms and lots of plants.

Most bream are silver. Older fish can turn a bronze color. They have flat bodies and wide backs.

Bream live in groups near the bottom. They use a special mouth to dig in the mud. This helps them find worms and small shells to eat. If the water is very cloudy, they use gill rakers to eat tiny water fleas. These are small parts in their gills that act like a sieve.

In the spring, males grow white bumps called tubercles on their heads.

These bumps help them defend their space. Females lay many eggs in weed beds. The tiny babies hatch in a few days. They use special glands to stick to plants. This keeps them safe until they grow larger. Soon, they move to deeper water to live.

The common bream is a special kind of freshwater fish.

You can find them in many places across Europe. They live in ponds, lakes, and slow-moving rivers. Many bream like to stay in areas with muddy bottoms. They also enjoy spots with plenty of algae to eat. Some can even live in brackish water where salt meets fresh water.

These fish are very important parts of their water homes.

These fish have a very interesting way of finding food. They live in schools near the bottom of the water. The bream has a mouth that can move forward to dig. This helps them find worms and small shells in the mud. If the water is very cloudy, they change how they eat. They use gill rakers, which are parts of their gills, to filter food. This allows them to catch tiny water fleas called Daphnia.

People have been studying the common bream for a long time. Carl Linnaeus first described the fish in the year 1758. He named it Cyprinus brama in his famous book. Later, in 1816, Georges Cuvier suggested a new name. He proposed the genus Abramis for this fish. Today, the common bream is the only species in that group. This makes the name Abramis very special to this one fish.

Common bream have many unique physical traits and facts. They usually have a bright silver color. Older fish may turn a bronze color in clear water.

You can tell them apart from silver bream by counting scales. Common bream have 11 or more rows of scales. In the spring, males grow white bumps called tubercles.

These bumps appear on their heads and upper bodies. A female can lay up to 300,000 eggs for every kilogram she weighs.

Learning about the bream helps us understand how fish grow. Baby fish, called fry, hatch and stick to plants. They use special glands to stay attached to the weeds. This helps them stay safe while they use their yolk for food. As they get older, they move into deeper water. They change from swimming in the open to living on the bottom.

This change shows how they adapt to their environment.

The common bream, known scientifically as *Abramis brama*, is a significant freshwater fish species. It belongs to the family Leuciscidae and the subfamily Leuciscinae. This fish is highly adaptable and plays a major role in European aquatic ecosystems. It is currently considered the only species within its specific genus, *Abramis*.

Physically, the common bream has a very distinct body shape. It features a high-backed, laterally flattened profile that looks somewhat like a disc. Younger fish often appear bright silver in color. However, as they age, they may develop a bronze coloration, particularly in clear water environments.

Their fins are typically greyish or black, but they never show reddish tints. This distinguishes them from the silver bream, which has reddish fins as an adult. To be certain of the species, scientists count the scales in a straight line from the first dorsal fin ray to the lateral line. A common bream will always have 11 or more rows of scales, while a silver bream has fewer than 10.

The feeding mechanics of the bream are quite specialized. Most bream live in schools near the bottom of their habitat. They possess a protractile mouth, which is a mouth that can be extended forward. This allows the fish to dig into the substrate to find food. They primarily hunt for chironomid larvae, Tubifex worms, bivalves, and gastropods. They also consume water plants and plankton.

In very turbid or cloudy water, the bream may switch to filter feeding. In this process, they use their gill rakers to strain tiny organisms like *Daphnia* water fleas from the water. However, as the fish grows, the gill rakers become too far apart to catch these small prey items. This biological limit means the fish will not grow larger than 45 centimeters.

The life cycle of the common bream begins with a specific spawning process. Spawning typically occurs between April and June when water temperatures reach approximately 15°C. During this period, males develop white tubercles, which are small bumps, on their heads and upper bodies. These males also establish and defend territories.

Females are incredibly prolific, laying between 90,000 and 300,000 eggs for every kilogram of their body weight. These eggs are spread over weed or reed beds over a period of 7 to 14 days. After fertilization, the fry hatch within 3 to 12 days. The young fry use special adhesive glands to attach themselves to water plants. This keeps them safe while they consume their yolk sacs. Once the yolk is gone, they move into larger shoals and transition from eating zooplankton to bottom-feeding.

History shows how our understanding of the bream has evolved through taxonomy. The species was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. He originally placed it in the genus *Cyprinus* as *Cyprinus brama*. His description was published in the 10th edition of *Systema Naturae*. Later, in 1816, the scientist Georges Cuvier proposed the genus *Abramis*. He designated the original *Cyprinus brama* as the type species for this new genus.

The common bream is widely distributed across Europe. Its range extends north of the Alps and the Pyrenees, as well as through the Balkans. They can be found as far east as the Caspian, Black, and Aral Seas. They prefer slow-flowing rivers, canals, lakes, and ponds. Specifically, they thrive in nutrient-rich environments with muddy bottoms and abundant algae. They are also capable of living in brackish waters where salt and fresh water mix.

Because of their high fertility and ability to adapt, bream can easily overpopulate. This overpopulation often leads to stunted growth, where fish grow very slowly and remain small. If a bream becomes malnourished, it may develop a condition known as "knife back," characterized by a sharp edge along its spine. While they are not usually caught for eating, they are very popular in sport fishing. In the United Kingdom, the current European record for a common bream caught with a rod and reel is 5.41 kilograms.