European Bream

European Bream 

(Abramis brama), a fish of the family Cyprinidae. The body is tall and strongly compressed. It usually measures about 30 cm and weighs about 1 kg (length sometimes reaches 50 cm; and weight, 5 kg). There is a smaller and darker form of European bream, which is silvery and and has a golden tint. The European bream inhabits the basins of the North, Baltic, Black, and Azov seas, as well as the Pechora River and the rivers that empty into the White Sea (Karelia). It has become acclimatized to the Ob’ River, Lake Ubinskoe, and Lake Balkhash. In addition to the freshwater European bream, there is an anadromous type in the basins of the southern seas, which feeds in the sea and spawns in the lower reaches of rivers. The eggs are laid in shallow-water vegetation; the young feed first on zooplankton and later on benthos. The European bream is commercially valuable; it is eaten in fresh, salted, sun-cured and smoked form. It is often raised under artificial conditions.