Carp bream

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iCarp bream

Carp bream (Abramis brama) from the Rhine

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Cyprinidae
Genus:	Abramis
Species:	A. brama

Binomial name

Abramis brama
Linnaeus, 1758

The carp bream (Abramis brama) is a species of fresh-water fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae, to which about 1,500 species belong.

The carp bream is usually 30 to 50 centimeters (12 to 20 inches) long, though some specimens have been as long as 75 cm (30 in.), and weighs two to four kilograms (four to nine pounds). It has a laterally flattened and high-backed body and a slightly inferior mouth. The fish is a silvery gray color, though older fish can be lightly bronze-colored. The pectoral fins are long and reach to the edge of the pelvic fins (see photo) and allow the carp bream to be distinguished from the white bream (Blicca bjoerkna), with which it is sometimes confused.

The carp bream generally lives in very slow-flowing rivers (especially in the lower reaches) and in nutrient-rich lakes and ponds with many algae and muddy bottoms. It lives in small schools near the bottom close to the shore. The fish's protactile mouth helps it dig for chironomidae larvae, tubificidae, bivalves, and gastropods. The carp bream eats water plants and plankton as well.

The spawning time of the carp bream is from April to June, when water temperatures are around 17°C (63°F). In this time the males form territories in which the females lay their 100,000 to 300,000 eggs on water plants. The fish larvae hatch after three to twelve days and attach themselves with special adhesive glands to water plants until their yolk is used up. After three to four years the fish are sexually mature. If a carp bream is malnourished it can develop a so-called knife back, the formation of a very sharp edge along its back.

Image:Breme300X200.jpg

The carp bream's habitat is in Europe north of the Alps and Pyrenees, as well as in the Balkans. It is also found as far east as the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Aral Sea.