# Common bleak > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Common_bleak > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Common_bleak.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_bleak > Source revision: 1355294890 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Species of fish This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Common bleak" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Common bleak Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Cypriniformes Family: Leuciscidae Subfamily: Leuciscinae Genus: Alburnus Species: A. alburnus Binomial name Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus, 1758) Synonyms[2] Cyprinus alburnus Linnaeus, 1758 Leuciscus alburnus (Linnaeus 1758) Aspius ochrodon Fitzinger, 1832 Aspius alburnoides Selys-longchamps, 1842 Alburnus lucidus Heckel, 1843 Alburnus strigio Bonaparte, 1845 Alburnus avola Bonaparte, 1846 Alburnus breviceps Heckel & Kner, 1857 Alburnus fracchia Heckel & Kner, 1857 Alburnus lucidus var. lacustris Heckel & Kner, 1857 Alburnus scoranzoides Heckel & Kner, 1857 Alburnus lucidus var. angustior Walecki, 1863 Alburnus lucidus var. latior Walecki, 1863 Alburnus alborella var. lateristriga Canestrini, 1864 Alburnus fabraei Blanchard, 1866 Alburnus mirandella Blanchard, 1866 Alburnus lucidus var. colobocephala Fatio, 1882 Alburnus lucidus var. elata Fatio, 1882 Alburnus lucidus var. elongata Fatio, 1882 Alburnus lucidus var. oxycephala Fatio, 1882 Leuciscus lucidus var. ilmenensis Warpachowski, 1886 Alburnus striatus Petrov, 1926 Alburnus alburnus strumicae Karaman, 1955 The **bleak** or **common bleak** (***Alburnus alburnus***) is a small freshwater [coarse fish](/source/Coarse_fish) of the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Leuciscidae](/source/Leuciscidae), which includes the minnows, daces and bleaks.[3] The common bleak is found in Europe and Western Asia. ## 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 18–23 fin rays. The [lateral line](/source/Lateral_line) is complete. The bleak has a shiny silvery colour, and the [fins](/source/Fin) are pointed and colourless. Its maximum length is about 25 cm (10 in). In Europe, the bleak can easily be confused with many other species. In [England](/source/England), young [common bream](/source/Common_bream) and [silver bream](/source/Blicca_bjoerkna) can be confused with young bleak, though the pointed, upward-turned mouth of the bleak is already distinctive at young stages. Young [roach](/source/Rutilus_rutilus) and [ruffe](/source/Ruffe) have wider bodies and short anal fins. ## Occurrence The bleak occurs in [Europe](/source/Europe) and Western Asia: north of the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus), [Pyrenees](/source/Pyrenees), and [Alps](/source/Alps), and eastward toward the [Volga](/source/Volga) basin in [northern Iran](/source/Northern_Iran) and north-western [Turkey](/source/Turkey). It is absent from [Iberian](/source/Iberian_Peninsula) and [Apennine](/source/Italian_Peninsula) peninsulas, from the rivers of [Adriatic](/source/Adriatic_Sea) watershed on the [Balkans](/source/Balkans) and most of British Isles except southeast England. It is locally introduced in [Spain](/source/Spain), [Portugal](/source/Portugal), and [Italy](/source/Italy), though. The shiny and pearly colours on the head of a bleak in direct sunlight ## Ecology The bleak lives in great schools and feeds upon small [molluscs](/source/Mollusc), insects that fall in the water, insect [larvae](/source/Larva), [worms](/source/Worm), small [shellfish](/source/Shellfish), and [plant detritus](/source/Detritus). It is found in [streams](/source/Stream) and [lakes](/source/Lake). The bleak prefers open waters and is found in large numbers where an inflow of food from pumping stations or behind weirs occurs. ### Spawning The bleak spawns near the shore in shallow waters. Some are found in deep water. The substrate is not important. ### Reproduction Source:[4] The Common Bleak typically reaches sexual maturity at around three years of age. Its spawning period takes place from April to June when the water temperature ranges between 14 and 15 °C (approximately 58 °F). During this time, a female Common Bleak can lay between 5,000 and 7,000 eggs in multiple batches. These eggs are deposited on submerged vegetation or shallow areas of the water. Males undergo changes during the spawning season, developing [nuptial tubercles](/source/Nuptial_tubercles) on their backs and flanks, while their fins take on an orange hue. The incubation period for the eggs lasts about 2 to 3 weeks. The growth rate of the young fish, known as fry, is relatively slow, and their primary source of nutrition is plankton. It is also possible for hybridization to occur between the Common Bleak and other cyprinid fish species, such as [Chub](/source/Chub), Roach, [Rudd](/source/Scardinius), or [Bream](/source/Bream). ### Importance The bleak is an important food source for [predatory](/source/Predatory) fish. It is more sensitive to pollution than other cyprinids, which might explain the decline in north-western Europe. ## Uses Bleak are used as bait for sport-fishing for larger fish. In 1656 in Paris, a Mr. Jaquin extracted from the scales of the common bleak, so-called *essence Orientale*[3] or "pearl essence",[5] (used in making [artificial pearls](/source/Imitation_pearl)), which is crystalline [guanine](/source/Guanine).[6] ## References Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Alburnus alburnus](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Alburnus_alburnus). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-IUCN_1-0)** Ford, M. (2024). ["*Alburnus alburnus*"](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/789/135064432). *[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](/source/IUCN_Red_List)*. **2024** e.T789A135064432. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T789A135064432.en](https://doi.org/10.2305%2FIUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T789A135064432.en). Retrieved 26 March 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Cof_genus_2-0)** Fricke, Ron; [Eschmeyer, William N.](/source/William_N._Eschmeyer) & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). ["Species in the genus *Alburnus*"](http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?tbl=species&genus=Alburnus). *[Catalog of Fishes](/source/Catalog_of_Fishes)*. [California Academy of Sciences](/source/California_Academy_of_Sciences). Retrieved 26 March 2025. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EB1911_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EB1911_3-1) [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). ["Bleak"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Bleak). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 55. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Billouttes.eu : [Panfish: Common Bleak (Alburnus alburnus)](https://billouttes.eu/freshwater-fish/panfish/panfish-the-common-bleak-alburnus-alburnus) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Johann Rudolf von Wagner, Ferdinand Fischer, and L. Gautier, *Traité de chimie industrielle* (Treatise on industrial chemistry), 4th ed., (Paris, France: Masson & Co., 1903), vol. 2, [pp. 64–65.](https://books.google.com/books?id=K2mhGDwiSJsC&pg=PA64) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** In 1861, French chemist [Charles-Louis Barreswil](/source/Charles-Louis_Barreswil) (1817–1870) found that "pearl essence" was guanine. See: Barreswil (1861) ["Sur le blanc d'ablette qui sert à la fabrication des perles fausses"](http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3010v/f246.item.zoom) (On the white of ablette that's used in making imitation pearls), *Comptes rendus*, **53** : 246. - ["Alburnus alburnus"](https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=163663). [Integrated Taxonomic Information System](/source/Integrated_Taxonomic_Information_System). Retrieved 24 January 2006. - [Froese, Rainer](/source/Rainer_Froese); [Pauly, Daniel](/source/Daniel_Pauly) (eds.). ["*Alburnus alburnus*"](https://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?genusname=Alburnus&speciesname=alburnus). *[FishBase](/source/FishBase)*. October 2005 version. Taxon identifiers Alburnus alburnus Wikidata: Q200473 Wikispecies: Alburnus alburnus ADW: Alburnus_alburnus BioLib: 15602 BOLD: 71169 CoL: 66876 EPPO: ALBRAL Fauna Europaea: 304365 Fauna Europaea (new): c7c552d5-c924-4c8d-a954-24a59afd09dc FishBase: 4730 GBIF: 2362925 iNaturalist: 93611 IRMNG: 10839808 ISC: 95206 ITIS: 163663 IUCN: 789 NBN: NHMSYS0000544605 NCBI: 54556 Observation.org: 2100 OBIS: 154285 WoRMS: 154285 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Common bleak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_bleak) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_bleak?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.