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
David B. Bleak being wounded himself, Bleak rushed the Chinese troops multiple times and killed five of them—four using only his hands—before assisting the wounded, and shielding another soldier from a grenade blast. Bleak is credited with saving the patrol's wounded and ensuring that all of its members returned to allied lines. For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. In the years preceding and following his military service, Bleak worked numerous jobs around Idaho and Wyoming, working as a rancher, dairy farmer, truck driver, and meat cutter before retiring as a radioactive waste technician at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.