Common bleak small shellfish and plant detritus. It is found in streams and lakes. The bleak prefers open waters and is found in large numbers where there is an inflow of food from pumping stations or behind weirs. The bleak spawns near the shore in shallow waters. Some are found in deep water. The substrate is not important. The bleak is an important food source for predatory fish. It is more sensitive to pollution than other cyprinids, which might explain the decline in North-Western Europe. Bleak are used as bait for sport-fishing for larger fish. In 1656 in Paris, a Mr. Jaquin
Bleak House filmed in 1920 and 1922. The latter version featured Sybil Thorndike as Lady Dedlock. In 1928, a short film made in the UK in the Phonofilm sound-on-film process starred Bransby Williams as Grandfather Smallweed. In 1998, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio adaptation of five hour-long episodes, starring Michael Kitchen as John Jarndyce. The BBC has produced three television adaptations of "Bleak House". The first serial, "Bleak House", was broadcast in 1959 in eleven half-hour episodes. The second "Bleak House", starring Diana Rigg and Denholm Elliott, aired in 1985 as an eight-part series. In 2005, the third "Bleak House" was