{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Vimba vimba.jpg | status = LC| status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name= iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Freyhof, J. |author-link=Jörg Freyhof|date=2024 |title=''Vimba vimba'' |article-number=e.T254508616A135094309 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T254508616A135094309.en |access-date=11 May 2025}}</ref> | taxon = Vimba vimba | display_parents = 3 | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = {{Specieslist | Cyprinus vimba | Linnaeus, 1758 | Abramis vimba | (Linnaeus 1758) | Cyprinus zerta | Leske, 1774 | Cyprinus vimpa | Strøm, 1784 | Cyprinus serta | Shaw, 1804 | Cyprinus carinatus | Pallas, 1814 | Abramis frivaldszkyi | Heckel, 1843 | Leuciscus parvulus | Valenciennes, 1844 | Abramis elongatus | Valenciennes, 1844 | Abramis nordmannii | Dybowski, 1862: | Abramis elongatus var. asianus | Steindachner, 1897 | Vimba vimba bergi | Velikokhatko, 1940 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = "Cof genus"/> }}
'''''Vimba vimba''''', called also the '''vimba bream''',<ref name=FB>{{FishBase|Vimba|vimba}}</ref> '''vimba''',<ref name=FB/> '''zanthe''',<ref name=FB/> or '''zarte''',<ref name=iucn /> is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. This species is found in Europe and Western Asia, where it largely lives in brackish water but makes an annual migration up-river each year to breed.
==Taxonomy== ''Vimba vimba'' was first formally described as ''Cyprinus vimba'' is the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', published in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, with its type locality given as the "Lakes of Sweden".<ref name = "Cof genus">{{Cof genus|genus=Vimba|access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> This species is now classified in the genus ''Vimba'', which was proposed as a genus by the Austrian zoologist Leopold Fitzinger in 1873, with this species being the type species by absolute tautonymy. It is classified within the subfamily Leuciscinae in the Family Leuciscidae.<ref name = "Cof family">{{Cof family|family=Leuciscinae|access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref>
==Etymology== ''Vimba vimba'' is the type species of the genus ''Vimba'', a name which Fitzinger used tautonymously for this species and that is thought to be derived from the Swedish vernacular name for this fish, ''vimma''.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/leuciscinae/ |title=Family LEUCISCIDAE: Subfamily LEUCISCINAE Bonaparte 1835 (European Minnows)|author=Christopher Scharpf |date=8 April 2024 |access-date=28 April 2025 |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}</ref>
==Description== ''Vimba vimba'' was at one time classified as a bream as it also has a long anal fin, but has now been placed in a different genus. Its body is not as deep as that of the bream. It also resembles the asp, but its mouth is small and behind the snout, whereas the asp has a large mouth with the lower jaw protruding. This species grows to about {{convert|25|to|45|cm}}, with a weight of up to {{convert|2|kg}}. The scales are small, and there are about sixty of them along the lateral line. This fish is a deep bluish-green on the dorsal surface, and silvery along the flanks. The eyes are yellow, and the pectoral and pelvic fins have reddish-yellow bases. The colouring becomes more vivid in the breeding season, and males may have the operculum, base of the fins and the belly turn orange.<ref name=NatureGate>{{cite web |url=http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kalat/vimba |title=Vimba: ''Vimba vimba'' |publisher=NatureGate |access-date=14 December 2013}}</ref>
thumb|The vimba bream has a long anal fin. thumb|The vimba bream has a typical head form similar to the nase.
==Distribution and habitat== ''Vimba vimba'' Is found in Europe and Western Asia in the drainage basins of the North Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, Aegean Sea and Caspian Sea. In the North Sea drainage, it is native to rivers between the Elbe and Ems. It has been introduced into the Rhine. In the Baltic Sea, it is absent from Denmark, northern Sweden and northern Finland. In the Black Sea, it has been extirpated from Crimea, and is not found between the Melet River in Ordu Province, Turkey and southern Georgia. In Anatolia, it also occurs in rivers draining into the Aegean and Turkish Mediterranean. It has also been introduced into the lower Volga. This species is found in the brackish waters of estuaries, as well as in the lower and middle reaches of rivers and in some larger subalpine lakes. A portion of the population is non-migratory and is permanently resident in rivers.<ref name =iucn/>
==Behaviour== ''Vimba vimba'' move in small shoals along the sea coast, feeding on invertebrates which they pick from the seabed, and the eggs of other fish. They leave the sea in May or June, swimming upriver to spawn in fast-moving tributaries with stony or gravelly bases and little vegetation. The males prepare several areas of riverbed on which the females deposit batches of eggs.<ref name=NatureGate/>
==References== {{Commons category|Vimba vimba}} {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q247370}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Vimba Category:Fish described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Freshwater fish of Europe Category:Fish of Europe Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot