Common Bream

The common bream, Abramis brama, is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae.

The common bream lives in ponds, lakes and canals, and in slow-flowing rivers. The common bream's home range is Europe north of the Alps and Pyrenees, as well as the Balkans. It is found as far east as the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Aral Sea.

The bream is usually 30 to 55 centimetres long, though some specimens of 75 centimetres have been recorded; it usually weighs 2 to 4 kilograms. It has a laterally flattened and high-backed body and a slightly undershot mouth. It is a silvery grey colour, though older fish can be bronze-coloured especially in clear waters. The fins are greyish to black, but never reddish.

The common bream spawns from April to June, when water temperatures are around 17 °C. At this time the males form territories within which the females lay 100,000 to 300,000 eggs on water plants. The fry hatch after three to twelve days and attach themselves to water plants with special adhesive glands, until their yolk is used up.

Because of their slender shape the young fish are often not recognised as bream, but they can be identified by their flat bodies and silvery colour. At this stage the fish are still pelagic, but after a few months they acquire their typical body shape and become bottom-dwellers. By three to four years old the fish are sexually mature.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_bream - 02.10.2008