Common Rudd

Also known as Rudd, Redeye, Pearl Roach

Common rudd thrive in the sunlit shallows of heavily vegetated lowland lakes, forming loose shoals that cruise through weed beds in search of food. Their upturned mouths allow them to graze efficiently on surface insects, filamentous algae, and submerged macrophyte shoots, an unusually plant-heavy diet for a European cyprinid. Spawning occurs in late spring among dense reed stems, where sticky eggs adhere to vegetation until fry hatch a week later.