30 Guide io tJie BritisJi FresJi-Water Fishes 



50. Common Bream or Carp Bream, Abramis bra ma 

 (fig. 22). — In this species the pharyngeal teeth are uniserial, 

 whereas in the White Bream they are biserial (cf. p. 23). The 

 branched rays of the anal fin number 23 to 29, the scales from 

 dorsal fin to lateral line 11 to 15 ; the coloration is brownish or 

 greenish, with bronze reflections ; the fins are blackish. The 

 young are silvery, and are generally confounded with the Silver 

 Bream, and with Bream hyl)rids with Rudd and Roach, under 

 the name Bream-flat. The Common Bream inhabits Europe 

 north of the Pyrenees and Alps, Russian Turkestan and Western 

 Siberia ; in Britain it is absent from Scotland north of the 

 Forth, and from the north-western counties of England; in 



Fig. 22. — Common Bbkam. 



Ireland it is common. It is found in lakes and sluggish rivers 

 There is a record of a 17-lb. Bream from the Trent. The 

 specimen shown, weighing 7 lbs. 14 J, oz., was caught in tlie 

 River Wensum, near Norwich, in December, 1915, by Mr. 

 W. G. Hewitt. A Bream of 8 lbs. 8 oz., a female distended 

 with eggs, is exhibited in the Fish Gallery (Case 8, No. 349). 



51, 52. Bream Hybrids. — The Common Bream and the 

 White Bream are known to form a hybrid, but it does not seem 

 to have been recognized in this country. Moreover, both species 

 hybridize with the Roach and the Rudd, and in some years the 

 hybrids between these species and the Common Bream may be 



