Tigris bream

Q: Can you eat Tigris bream?

A small cyprinid bream from the Tigris-Euphrates river system; consumed locally in Iraq and Syria. Bony but edible with mild flesh; typically fried whole in traditional Mesopotamian river-fish dishes.

Q: How big does Tigris bream get?

Tigris bream can grow up to 29.0 cm long.

Q: Where is Tigris bream found?

Native to the Tigris River system in Iraq and Turkey, including the Khabur and Greater Zab tributaries. Tolerates mild brackish conditions in the lower Tigris near Basra and the Shatt al-Arab waterway entering the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates river systems of Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. Inhabits lowland river sections with moderate flow over sandy and gravelly substrates. Important historically in Mesopotamia.

Q: What family does Tigris bream belong to?

Tigris bream (Acanthobrama marmid) belongs to the family Leuciscidae in the order Cypriniformes (Carps and minnows).

Abstract

River fisheries of Mesopotamia have long drawn on Acanthobrama marmid, a deep-bodied bream of the Tigris system in Iraq and Turkey, including the Khabur and Greater Zab tributaries. It reaches 29 cm, with silvery to pale golden-bronze flanks under an olive-green to brownish back, the slightly darker scale edges producing a subtly reticulated effect. Lowland reaches of moderate flow over sand and gravel suit it, and it tolerates mildly brackish conditions in the lower Tigris near Basra and the Shatt al-Arab. Bony but mild-fleshed, it is still eaten locally in Iraq and Syria, usually fried whole. The family is Leuciscidae, order Cypriniformes.