Italian bleak (Alburnus albidus)

Italian bleak
Italian bleak

Italian bleak fact file

Italian bleak description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderCypriniformes
FamilyCyprinidae
GenusAlburnus albidus (1)

This small freshwater fish, once a common inhabitant of rivers in southern Italy, has been the victim of a drastic population decline in recent years. The Italian bleak (Alburnus albidus) has a spindle-shaped body with a slight protrusion behind the head. It is a dark metallic colour on the upperparts and silvery-white on the underside, with yellow eyes and grey fins. The tail is forked with sharpened lobes. Different populations of this species may differ slightly in size and colouration (4).

The Italian bleak differs from the closely related common bleak (Alburnus alburnus) by its rounded mouth and less prominent jaw (4).

Also known as
White bleak.
Size
Length: up to 11 cm (2)
Top

Italian bleak biology

An omnivorous fish, the Italian bleak’s diet is strongly influenced by the changing of the seasons. During spring the Italian bleak feeds on drifting insects or invertebrates that have fallen onto water’s surface (5), in summer it tends to eat freshwater green algae, while in winter its diet is largely composed of organic debris (4).

Reproduction takes place late in the spring, when the female lays eggs between small stones close to the riverbank (4).

Top

Italian bleak range

The Italian bleak is endemic to southern Italy. Its natural range stretches from the Voltumo to Alento Rivers in the west, and from the Trigno to Basento Rivers in the east. Introduced populations are found in the Mingardo, Bussento, Lao, and Savuto Rivers (1) (5).

Top

Italian bleak habitat

The Italian bleak inhabits well-oxygenated, clear, mountainous and hilly streams, as well as small rivers(5). It usually populates the middle and lower parts of a river, where it is often the dominant species together with the European chub (Squalius cephalus) and the common barbel (Barbus barbus) (4).

Top

Italian bleak status

The Italian bleak is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1) and listed on Appendix II of CITES (3).

IUCN Red List species status – Vulnerable

Top

Italian bleak threats

The population of the Italian bleak has been reduced by 50 percent in the past 10 years, mainly due to the introduction of Rutilus rubilio (South European roach), and by the decline in habitat quality caused by the creation of canals and draining of water courses (1). Hybridization with Leuciscus cephalus (European chub) is also a threat to this little fish (1) (6).

Climate change also poses a long-term threat to the Italian bleak (1), as an increase in global temperatures is predicted to result in a decrease in freshwater in the Mediterranean basin region (8).

Top

Italian bleak conservation

The Italian bleak is protected in Europe under Appendix III of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (also known as the Bern Convention) (7). Efforts are being made to protect the habitat of this fish by creating special conservation zones. Educating fishermen, who sometimes uses the Italian bleak as bait, is another important action being undertaken by Italian authorities (4).

Top

Find out more

To learn about efforts to protect freshwater ecosystems see:

Top

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk

This species information was authored as part of the ARKive and Universities Scheme.
Top

Glossary

Algae
Simple plants that lack roots, stems and leaves but contain the green pigment chlorophyll. Most occur in marine and freshwater habitats.
Endemic
A species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
Hybridisation
Cross-breeding between two different species or subspecies.
Invertebrates
Animals with no backbone, such as insects, crustaceans, worms, molluscs and spiders.
Omnivorous
Feeding on both plants and animals.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (October, 2010)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org/
  2. Kottelat, M. and Freyhof, J. (2007) Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes. Publications Kottelat, Cornol, Switzerland.
  3. CITES (October, 2010)
    http://www.cites.org/
  4. Ittiofauna (October, 2010)
    http://www.ittiofauna.org/provinciarezzo/fauna_ittica/Schede/schedespecie/alborellappenninica.htm
  5. FishBase (October, 2010)
    http://www.fishbase.org/
  6. Bianco, P.G. (2006) Hybridization between Alburnus albidus (C.) and Leuciscus cephalus cabeda R. in Italy. Journal of Fish Biology, 21(5): 593-603.
  7. Council of Europe: Bern Convention (October, 2010)
    http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/104.htm
  8. WWF: Climate Change Impacts in Mediterranean Basin (May, 2011)
    http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/rising_temperatures/hotspot_map/mediterranean_basin.cfm

More »Related species

Least chub (Iotichthys phlegethontis)Nase (Pseudochondrostoma willkommii)Dinnawah snowtrout (Schizothorax progastus)South-west European nase (Parachondrostoma toxostoma)Sinocyclocheilus (Sinocyclocheilus anophthalmus)Rasbora (Rasbora tawarensis)Parachondrostoma (Parachondrostoma arrigonis)Rosy barb (Puntius conchonius)

This species is featured in:

This species is affected by global
climate change and has been profiled with
the support of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
To learn more visit our climate change pages.

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Italian bleak  
Italian bleak

© Dr. Massimo Lorenzoni

Dr. Massimo Lorenzoni
Dipartimento di Biologia Cellulare ed Ambientale - Università di Perugia
Via Elce di Sotto
06100 Perugia
Italy
Tel: +39 (075) 585716
Fax: +39 (075) 5855615
lorenzon@unipg.it
http://bio.unipg.it/staff/massimo.html

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Italian bleak (Alburnus albidus) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.