What exactly are bream?

It seems like you have got some good answers however i thought i would like to tell you about the UK bream, its a saltwater fish, it looks a little like a blue gill, but bigger, they have sharp dorsal fins with sharp spines, also on the gill cover, they are caught mainly from the boat on squid baits, they are re mostly found over wrecks they don't grow over 5lb, except for the occasional giant. This is all is an remember about them as i used to live in the UK some time back and owned a fishing tackle store there, also they live in the warmer waters towards the south. Ive found this picture you may want to look at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/northernmost/22830398...

Bream is southern slang that groups together Bluegill, Shell-cracker and Sunfish. All are similar to bluegill and about the same size. Different colors and specifics but generally grouped together.

Thing is, there are more species in the south than up north and that's why they are grouped together and called Bream collectively.

I agree with the rest- in the US it's a slang term from the South for "Bluegills" or "Sunnys".

However, I have seen some UK posts that use that same term for a fish.

I wonder what a Bream in the UK is? Is it just a Sunny/Bluegill/Panfish or something else?

UPDATE: Kudos to AIRFLOW for the research & pic of a saltwater Bream!

Airflow gets my vote for best answer!

I think Bream is a southern ( to me ) term for what we call "Bluegill" up here in Illinois. When i go camping in Missouri, people talk about Bream and I have to think for a minute what they are talking about. Pretty sure Bream is just a word for a panfish

It is a member of the sunfish family, but it is a breed unto itself. While fishing for them, you may catch bluegill, red ears and bream, But the ones that are called bream may have a more specific name, but it is not a bluegill or a redear.

Its a generic term applied to smaller oval shaped fish anywhere that was settled by ppl from the British Empire. In WI its a smaller member of the Sunfish family like a bluegill. Down South you include anything similar from small green sunfish to shellcrackers.

a bream is simply the southern word 4 bluegill. but yes it is a regional word. it could also be used to describe a general pan fish a bit further up north north of Tennessee.

Bream is a general term for the sunfish family... sunfish are blugill, shellcracker,warmouth,crappie,and even bass. There are a couple other different types of bream. sorry i couldn't mention them all. but i hope this helps

bream is a bluegill

a panfish

like speak

I think it's just a generalized term for panfish, but my neighbor (a native Texan) uses it to describe crappie in specific.