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Bream, according to the classification of flora and fauna created by Carl Linnaeus, in 1758 for the first time received a description and scientific international name Abramis brama. According to the scientific classification, fish is also referred to as:
- Eastern bream;
- Common bream;
- Danube bream.
Abramis brama – in the world classification has become a solitary, freshwater representative of its genus, the genus Abramis (Bream), included in the family Cyprinidae (Cyprinidae).
Abramis brama, as the only representative in the order Cypriniformes (cyprinids), had 16 species before the creation of the world classification, the main representatives of which were:
- Glazach (soup, dumpling);
- Guster;
- son-in-law;
- Syrt;
- Bream,
after the final creation of the classifier, Abramis brama became a monotypic species.
Description of the appearance of Abramis brama
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The main distinguishing feature of the appearance of Abramis brama is a high and compressed body on both sides. The height of the body sometimes exceeds 1/3 of its length, it has a small head with a small mouth, which is equipped with a suction telescopic part in the form of a tube. Such a device of the mouth allows the fish to feed from the bottom surface without changing the position of the body relative to it. The pharynx of the fish is equipped with pharyngeal teeth, which are arranged in one row in the amount of 5 pcs. from each side.
At a distance of 2/3 from the head, on the back of the fish is the dorsal fin, it starts from the highest ray from the head and loses height, after 10 rays closer to the tail of the body. The anal fin consists of 33 rays, occupying 1/3 of the length of the body, three of which are hard, and the rest are soft.
An adult Abramis brama has a gray hue on the back, sometimes brown, on the sides of an adult fish with a golden sheen, which turns into a light yellow hue closer to the belly. A young and not sexually mature individual has a light gray, silver body color.
If we figured out the question – what does Abramis brama look like, then many are already interested in the question, but what does the longest individual of Abramis brama (common bream) look like, how much does it weigh and how long does it live? The largest and officially recorded specimen of a bream weighed 6 kg, its length was 82 cm, and in order to reach such a size, the fish lived for 23 years.
What is the difference between a bream and a bream
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Many anglers use the names bream and bream, but they cannot answer the question asked by them during the conversation, what is the difference. In fact, everything is very simple, a scavenger is the same bream, but not mature.
Sexual maturity of Abramis brama in the warm waters of its habitat occurs at the age of 3-4 years, and in cold waters after reaching the age of 6-9 years. Before reaching the specified age and puberty, individuals have a body weight in the range of 0,5-1 kg, and the body length is no more than 35 cm, it is with such characteristics that the fish is called a scavenger.
The main distinguishing features of a scavenger from a bream:
- Body color;
- Size and weight of a person;
- Behavior and lifestyle.
The shade of the color of an adult bream is always dark in color, and that of a bream is always silver. The size of the bream does not exceed 35 cm and weighs 1 kg, the body is elongated and not as round as that of a bream. The scavenger, unlike an adult relative, adheres to shallow areas of a reservoir with well-heated water. The bream leads a flocking lifestyle, and the bream prefers to stray into paired groups, the habitat of which is the deeper sections of a river or lake.
Abramis brama habitats, distribution
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In those places where bream is found, there is almost always a sandy or muddy bottom, these are lakes, rivers and reservoirs of Northern and Central Europe. It is found in the network of reservoirs and basins of the following seas:
- Baltic;
- Azov;
- Black;
- Caspian;
- Northern;
- Aral.
In the 30s of the last century, ichthyologists of our Motherland were able to acclimatize bream in Siberian rivers, trans-Ural lakes and Lake Balkhash. Thanks to the channels between the Northern Dvina and the Volga system, the bream has gained a population in the European part of Russia. The territory of Transcaucasia has also become the habitat of Abramis brama, but in this territory it has a small population and belongs to rare species, it can be found in the following reservoirs:
- Lake Paleostoma;
- Lenkorans;
- Mingachevir reservoir.
Bream diet
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As we mentioned earlier, the bream has a special mouth structure, thanks to which the fish is able to feed from the bottom of the reservoir, even if it is covered with silt or abundant vegetation. Numerous flocks of Abramis brama in a short period of time are able to “shovel” huge sections of the bottom of the reservoir in search of food. According to the observations of experienced fishermen, in order to find a flock of large feeding bream on a lake site, it is necessary to find air bubbles escaping to the surface, they rise from the bottom, released from the silt by feeding fish.
The special structure of the pharyngeal teeth made adjustments to the diet of Abramis brama, it was based on:
- seaweed;
- snails and small benthic invertebrates;
- bloodworm;
- pipe maker;
- seashells.
During feeding, the bream, like a “vacuum cleaner”, sucks a mixture of water and silt into the oral cavity, and pharyngeal growths help to retain benthos, which it loves very much. The fish separates it from the water before expelling it through the gills. Such a physiological ability of Abramis brama allowed him to become the leader in terms of population among the native fish species living next to him.
In the second half of winter, in water with the lowest possible temperature and over-enriched with gases dissolved in it, the fish is not able to actively search and feed, it leads a sedentary lifestyle. It has been noticed that the larger the food supply, the average annual water temperature, the more the fish feeds, already after reaching the age of 10-15 years, the fish is able to gain weight up to 9 kg and a body length of 0,8 m.
Reproduction
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The onset of sexual maturity of an individual is indicated by the appearance of specific growths on the head of the fish, and the color of the body from a silvery hue turns into dark tones. The division of the flock before spawning occurs in groups, the criterion for the formation of which is primarily the age threshold. The period of spawning and spawning in Abramis brama lasts no more than a month, on average 4 days are spent on spawning of one group, the duration of spawning is affected by the ambient temperature. A shallow area with a large amount of vegetation is chosen as a place for holding such a significant event in the life of a fish.
The bream is prolific, for one spawning the female lays at least 140 thousand eggs, but not everyone will be able to survive due to frequent fluctuations in ambient temperature during return frosts. The lowest temperature threshold capable of withstanding caviar is at least 110 With, at t0 below this threshold, the eggs die. Already a week after spawning, fish larvae appear from the eggs, and after another 3 weeks they are reborn into fry.
Throughout the warm season until the first frosts, the fry of Abramis brama keeps with the growing young of another fish species in the form of numerous flocks that actively move around the reservoir in search of food. Young animals before the onset of winter in places with an abundant food supply manage to gain weight and body length of at least 12 cm.
Growing individuals adhere to spawning places until the onset of spring thaw and leave it only after the arrival of heat. Large individuals, on the contrary, having completed their noble mission, roll into the pits, and after returning to their normal form, they begin to actively feed.
Due to the high growth rate of Abramis brama, the chances of surviving at the initial stage in the growing fry are much greater than in other species. The most important enemies in the first year of life in a bream are pike, pike perch and large perch. A bream that has grown up to 3 years of age can be harmed by the same pike and catfish.
black bream
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The Amur black bream (Megalobrama terminalis) has acquired a habitat in Russia, exclusively in the Amur basin. Under favorable conditions, it is able to live for 10 years and gain weight of 3,1 kg with a body length of more than 0,5 m. Particularly favorable conditions for increasing the population of Megalobrama terminalis have developed in the Chinese part of the Amur basin. The population is so large that it allowed local fishing teams to carry out its industrial catch.
On the territory of Russia, this species is classified as endangered; for more than 40 years, the commercial catch of the Amur bream has not been carried out. In order to increase the population, ichthyologists conduct artificial reproduction and its replenishment.