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Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bleak
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Alburnus alburnus
Picture by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/D. Terver

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cypriniformes (Carps) > Leuciscidae (Minnows) > Leuciscinae
Etymology: Alburnus: From the city of Al Bura, where the fish was known (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.0 - ? ; dH range: 10 - ?; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - ? m (Ref. 30578). Temperate; 10°C - 20°C (Ref. 2059); 68°N - 35°N, 6°W - 60°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Europe and Asia: most of Europe north of Caucasus, Pyrénées and Alps, eastward to Ural and Emba. Naturally absent from Iberian Peninsula, Adriatic and Aegean basins (except Maritza drainage), Italy, Ireland, Great Britain (except southeast), Norway and Scandinavia north of 67°N, Caspian basin south of Volga. In Anatolia, Marmara basin. Locally introduced in Spain, Portugal and Italy. At least one country reports adverse ecological impact after introduction.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 9.9, range 9 - ? cm
Max length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30578); common length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30578); max. published weight: 60.00 g (Ref. 30578)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 2 - 4; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7 - 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 14 - 20; Vertebrae: 41 - 44. Diagnosed from congeners in Europe by the possession of the following characters: origin of anal fin below branched dorsal rays 4-5; lateral line with 45-48 + 3 scales; anal fin with 17-20½ branched rays; 16-22 gill rakers; ventral keel exposed from anus to pelvic base; lateral stripe absent in life, faint or absent in preserved specimens; and mouth slightly superior (Ref. 59043). Caudal fin with 19 rays (Ref. 2196). Also Ref. 40476.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits open waters of lakes and medium to large rivers. Forms large aggregations in backwaters and other still waters during winter. Adults occur in shoals near the surface. Larvae live in littoral zone of rivers and lakes while juveniles leave shores and occupy a pelagic habitat, feeding on plankton, drifting insects or invertebrates fallen on the water surface (Ref. 59043). Feeds mainly on plankton, including crustaceans (Ref. 30578) and insects (Ref. 9696). Spawns in shallow riffles or along stony shores of lakes, occasionally above submerged vegetation (Ref. 59043). Excellent as bait for carnivorous fishes. May be captured using the smallest hook and a fly as bait. Its flesh is tasty (Ref. 30578). Of little interest to commercial or sport fisheries in its native range because of its small size (Ref. 1739). Scales were previously utilized in making Essence d"Orient, a coating for artificial pearls (Ref. 59043).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Eggs hatch in about 4 days (Ref. 59043).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kottelat, M., 1997. European freshwater fishes. An heuristic checklist of the freshwater fishes of Europe (exclusive of former USSR), with an introduction for non-systematists and comments on nomenclature and conservation. Biologia, Bratislava, 52/Suppl. 5:1-271. (Ref. 13696)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 January 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans






Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; bait: usually
FAO - Aquaculture systems: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture systems: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00562 (0.00485 - 0.00652), b=3.12 (3.09 - 3.15), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.7   ±0.29 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=2-3; K=0.19; tmax=7; Fec=1,500).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (31 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 80.3 [38.4, 133.1] mg/100g; Iron = 0.46 [0.27, 0.84] mg/100g; Protein = 16.7 [15.1, 18.1] %; Omega3 = 0.697 [0.310, 1.491] g/100g; Selenium = 9.19 [4.33, 19.16] μg/100g; VitaminA = 40.5 [14.0, 121.6] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.965 [0.689, 1.367] mg/100g (wet weight);