Rain bleak
Leucaspius delineatus (Heckel, 1843)
The rain bleak (Leucaspius delineatus) is a bony fish in the family Cyprinidae, subfamily Leuciscinae, order Cypriniformes. It is also called Sunbleak, Moderlieschen, Able de Heckel, Motherless minnow and European sun bleak, and its scientific name carries the authority (Heckel, 1843).
Quick facts about the rain bleak
The IUCN Red List global assessment places it in the Least Concern (LC) category, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 4 cm – 6 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the rain bleak?
Photos of the rain bleak
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the rain bleak live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the rain bleak as introduced in 4 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.
Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).
What is the rain bleak?
Leucaspius is a monospecific genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Leuciscinae, of the family Leuciscidae. The only species in this genus is Leucaspius delineatus, known as the sunbleak, belica or moderlieschen. The species is found in Europe and Western Asia.
From the Wikipedia article “Leucaspius” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leucaspius&oldid=1355305859), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the rain bleak endangered?
The rain bleak is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the rain bleak classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderCypriniformes
- familyCyprinidae
- genusLeucaspius
- SpeciesLeucaspius delineatus (Heckel, 1843)
Synonyms Aspius ovsianka, Aspius owsianka, Cyprinus fischeri, Cyprinus pallasii, Cyprinus pallasii, Leucaspius abruptus, Leucaspius delineatus caucasicus, Leucaspius delineatus delineatus, Leucaspius delineatus dimorphus, Leucaspius delineatus dimorphus, Leucaspius delineatus var. dimorphus, Leucaspius relictus, Leuciscus pigmeus, Owsianka czernayi, Phoxinellus thracicus, Squalius delineatus
Other names and names in other languages (44)
- Able de HeckelEnglish
- European sun bleakEnglish
- ModerlieschenEnglish
- Motherless minnowEnglish
- SunbleakEnglish
- АўсянкаBelarusian
- slunka obecnáCzech
- regnløjeDanish
- ModkeGerman
- MalinchenGerman
- ModerlieschenGerman
- MutterlosekenGerman
- SchneiderkarpfenGerman
- SonnenfischchenGerman
- ZwerglaubeGerman
- ΜικροσίρκοGreek
- ΜικρόσιρκοGreek
- Carpín sin MadreSpanish
- MudamaimEstonian
- allikkosalakkaFinnish
- able de HeckelFrench
- L'Able de HeckelFrench
- kurta baingHungarian
- saulažuvėLithuanian
- Paprastoji saulažuvėLithuanian
- AuslejaLatvian
- regnlaueNorwegian Bokmål
- vetjeDutch
- regnlaueNorwegian Nynorsk
- słonecznicaPolish
- Słonecznica pospolitaPolish
- fufăRomanian
- albişoarăRomanian
- plevuşcăRomanian
- верховкаRussian
- Верховка обыкновеннаяRussian
- ovsienka striebristáSlovak
- belicaSlovenian
- groplöjaSwedish
- cüce kocaağızTurkish
- ВерхівкаUkrainian
- вівсянкаUkrainian
- Верховка звичайнаUkrainian
- 小赤稍魚Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the rain bleak
Other species in the same genus Leucaspius.
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the rain bleak?
The rain bleak is a bony fish. It belongs to the family Cyprinidae and the subfamily Leuciscinae.
What is the scientific name of the rain bleak?
Its scientific name is Leucaspius delineatus, in the genus Leucaspius.
Who named the rain bleak and when?
The scientific name Leucaspius delineatus carries the authority (Heckel, 1843).
Is the rain bleak endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the IUCN Red List global assessment, which is not a threatened category.
What other names does the rain bleak have?
Other English names are Sunbleak, Moderlieschen, Able de Heckel, Motherless minnow and European sun bleak.
Which order does the rain bleak belong to?
The rain bleak belongs to the order Cypriniformes, in the class Teleostei.
Is the rain bleak an invasive species?
In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the rain bleak as invasive in 1 country: United Kingdom. It lists it as introduced in 4 in all.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Rain bleak (Leucaspius delineatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/rain-bleak
“Rain bleak (Leucaspius delineatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/rain-bleak.
@misc{rain_bleak_2026,
title = {Rain bleak (Leucaspius delineatus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/rain-bleak},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}