Fish, carp family
Bitterling
- Origin
- Native species
- Fishing
- banned all year
About the species Bitterling
How to recognise it
A small, deep-bodied fish (up to 9 cm) with a silver body and a dark stripe towards the tail. During spawning the males show rainbow colours.
Where it lives
Still and slow-flowing overgrown waters inhabited by freshwater mussels.
What it feeds on
Algae and small invertebrates.
Spawning
From April to August. The female lays her eggs inside live mussels, where they develop.
It cannot reproduce without mussels, so the habitat they live in is protected too.
Classification under the decree
Decree of the Ministry of the Environment of the SR no. 381/2018 Coll. on fisheries.
Classification
A native species of fish or lamprey (Section 13, paragraph 1 of the decree).
Closed season, minimum size and daily limit
What the Fisheries Act says about bitterling. For guidance only; check it in the fishing regulations of the district.
Species protected all year
Section 10, paragraph 1, point i of the decreefishing prohibited
this species may not be fishedoutside this period
You must not keep a fish of this species. If you happen to catch one, return it to the water as gently as possible.
Summary of Act no. 216/2018 Coll. and Decree no. 381/2018 Coll. (as of 6 Nov 2026). It may be out of date or contain an error, and exceptions apply on some waters. The permit and the fishing regulations of the district are binding. The fishing law, rule by rule.
Where it was recorded
Fishing districts around which a record of this species exists (GBIF).
We do not yet track where this species occurs in individual fishing districts. So far we have records from the GBIF database only for species with numerical water-temperature data.
Catches of Bitterling
Approved catches by anglers on this portal.
Nobody has logged a catch of this species yet. Be the first; once approved it will appear here and on the leaderboard.
Similar species
Photo credits
- Bitterling: Photo: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sunbleak: Photo: Viridiflavus, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Bleak: Photo: Harka, Akos, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Minimum sizes, protection periods and permitted fishing methods are set by the fishing regulations and the conditions of the specific fishing district. Check them before you fish.