Table of Contents
Danube bleak (Alburnus chalcoides)
Scientific Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Actinopterygii
Order Cypriniformes
Family Cyprinidae
Genus Alburnus
Species A. chalcoides
Danube bleak or Caspian shemaya is a type of freshwater fish that belongs to the Cyprinidae family. This fish is present in Iran, Austria, Germany, Russia, and Uzbekistan.
Morphology
Lateral line scales are 57-70. This fish’s abdomen is compressed in a keel and it does not have any scale in the backside. The dorsal fin contains 8-9 rays while the anal fin consists of 15-19. Caspian is found in the river whose flow is slow. This fish migrates from one place to another.
Breeding
These fish go for spawning purposes to the upper surface of the water and after spawning these fish go to the lower surface of the water. This fish eats on small Crustaceans worm mollusks, Insects larvae, insects, and small fish.
Male Danube bleaks gather for spawning in May to July at places where the flowing of water is so fast in the streams with gravel bottoms. In this place, the female comes later and lays about 20000 eggs which adhere to stones and gravel.
This fish hatch after 2 or 3 days and the larvae stay among the gravel for further 10 days before coming back to waters and Less deep where they eat zooplankton, insect larvae, and algae. The young fish come downstream in the autumn or the spring of the same year. This fish may become mature in four to five years.[1](PDF) Danube Bleak. Chalcalburnus chalcoides (Güldenstädt, 1772) (researchgate.net)[2]Danube bleak – Wikipedia
Reviewed by:
Dr. Muhammad Khalid Mukhtar (Ph.D.)
University of Sargodha, Sargodha