CHAPTER X 



rHE BREAMS, "THE BLEAK, AND THE LOACHES 



The Bream — Habits — Angling for Bream — The White Bream, or Breamflat 

 — The Bleak — The Uses of Bleak — The Loach — The Spined Loach. 



Twelfth Sub-Family : ABRAMIDINA: THE BREAM GROUP 



The twelfth group of the Carp Family is distinguished by 

 the prolongation of the base of the anal fin, and the lateral 

 compression of the abdomen, or part thereof, into a narrow 

 edge. 



The Bream {Abramis brama) 



Fins. 

 Dorsal: 12 rays. 

 Anal: 26 to 31 rays. 

 Ventral : 10 rays. 

 Pectoral : 16 rays. 



Teeth. 

 Pharyngeal, notched at the 

 free ends, 5 on each side, 

 in a single row. 



The bream is easily distinguished from other carps by the 

 remarkable depth of the body, which is severely compressed 

 laterally, and measures in length only about three times its 

 depth. The abdomen is flattened into an acute ridge or edge, 

 finishing off a peculiar configuration, which suggests that the 

 animal owes it to his powerful fins that he has maintained a 

 vertical position, and has not turned over on one side and so 

 become a flat-fish. The dorsal fin, set in the middle of the 

 back, is very short and high, acutely pointed, the first ray 



ISO 



