Bleak

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Bleak

The common bleak is a small pelagic fish of the Cyprinid

Cyprinid

The Family Cyprinidae, from the Ancient Greek ??p????? , consists of the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives . They are commonly called cyprinids or carp and minnow family....
family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
. It is often referred to simply as a "bleak", though this term can refer to any species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
of Alburnus
Alburnus

Alburnus is a genus of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family.It contains the following species:* Gokce Baligi * Italian Bleak * Common Bleak ...
.
body of the bleak is elongated and flat. The head is pointed and the relatively small mouth is turned upwards. The anal fin is long and has 18 to 23 fin rays. The lateral line

Lateral line

In aquatic organisms , the lateral line is a sense organ used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the Operculum s to the base of the tail....
is complete. The bleak has a shiny silvery colour; and the fins are pointed and colourless.

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Encyclopedia

The common bleak is a small pelagic fish of the Cyprinid

Cyprinid

Family (biology)

Species

Description

The body of the bleak is elongated and flat. The head is pointed and the relatively small mouth is turned upwards. The anal fin is long and has 18 to 23 fin rays. The lateral line

Lateral line

Carp bream

The carp bream is a species of fresh-water fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae....
and silver bream

Silver Bream

The Silver Bream is a species of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family.It is found in Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia , Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxe...
can be confused with young bleak, though the pointed upward turned mouth of the bleak is already distinctive at young stages. Young roach

Roach (fish)

The Common Roach is a freshwater and brackish water fish native to most of Europe and western Asia. It is locally simply known as "the roach", but actually the fishes called "roach" can be any species of the genera Rutilus and Hesperoleucus depending on locality....
and ruffe

Ruffe

The Eurasian Ruffe is a freshwater fish found in temperate regions of Europe and northern Asia. It has been introduced species into the Great Lakes of North America, reportedly with unfortunate results....
have a wider body and a short anal fin.

Occurrence

The bleak occurs in Europe: in Western England, Southern Sweden, France and eastward toward the Volga Basin and North-Western Turkey.

Ecology

It lives in great schools and feeds upon small molluscs, insects that fall in the water, insect larva

Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e, worm

Worm

A worm is a common name given to a diverse group of invertebrate animals that have a long, soft body and no legs. There are hundreds of thousands of species of worms, 2,700 of these are earthworms....
s, small shellfish

Shellfish

Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton bearing aquatic invertebrate used as food, including various species of Molluscas, crustaceans, and echinoderms....
and plant detritus. It is found in streams and lakes. The bleak prefers open waters and is found in large numbers where there is an inflow of food from pumping stations or behind weirs.

Spawning

The bleak spawns near the shore in shallow waters. Some are found in deep water. The substrate is not important.

Importance

The bleak is an important food source for predatory fish. It is more sensitive to pollution then other cyprinids, which might explain the decline in North-Western Europe.

Uses

Bleak are eaten and are used as bait for sport-fishing for larger fish. Guanine

Guanine

Guanine is one of the five main nucleobases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, the others being adenine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. In DNA, guanine is paired with cytosine....
is extracted from the scales of the bleak and is used in making artificial pearls.