Carp

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For other uses, see Carp (disambiguation).

Carp
Common carp, Cyprinus carpio
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Cypriniformes
Family:
Cyprinidae
Genera

Abramis
Aristichthys
Barbodes
Carassius
Cirrhinus
Ctenopharyngodon
Cyprinus
Epalzeorhynchos
Henicorhynchus
Hypophthalmichthys
Labeo
Mylopharyngodon
and others

Carp is a common name for various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fishes originally from Eurasia and North America. Some consider all cyprinid fishes carp and the family Cyprinidae itself is often known as the carp family. In colloquial use, however, carp usually refers only to several larger cyprinid species such as Cyprinus carpio (common carp), Carassius carassius (Crucian carp), Ctenopharyngodon idella (grass carp), Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (silver carp), and Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (bighead carp). Carp have long been an important food fish to humans, as well as popular ornamental fishes (see koi and goldfish). As a result, carp have been introduced to various locations, though with mixed results.

History of carp introductions

The culture of carp originated in East Asia, and the first text on aquaculture, Fan Lee's "Treatise on Pisciculture," was written in 473 BCE on carp. Domesticated carp were eventually introduced to Europe (probably through the Middle East) during the 13th century, at which time they were cultivated mainly by monks. They were subsequently introduced into North America in 1877, as a government program to try to popularize them as a food source, as well as sport. Fish were released in ponds in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland; later, surplus populations were released in Washington D.C. This was primarily the project of Rudolf Hessel, a fish culturist in the employ of the United States government. Carp were fairly widely introduced throughout the central eastern States, and introduced carp readily adapted to their new environment, spreading rapidly throughout any drainage area in which they were released. Carp have since become naturalized in almost every water in which they were introduced. However, carp never attained in the U.S. the great popularity they have in Europe.

Eating and sport

The common carp, along with several other large carps, are one of the most aqua-cultured consumption fishes in the world, produced in the hundreds of thousands of tons annually.

But while tasty when grown in clean water, carp have two special and unusual rows of small bones attached to the inner surfaces of the ribs which have to be somehow removed or laboriously scored through, before eating. And fish that live in muddy waters tend to acquire a muddy flavor.[1] Thus, the value of carp as food varies. In China, Japan, and Taiwan carp are esteemed as food fish and are also considered to be signs of good fortune, so are often served at banquets and other formal meals. Indeed, it has been said that they were the favored entree at imperial feasts in very ancient times. [citation needed] In Central and Eastern Europe, carp are also much appreciated, and are traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Croatia, Hungary and Poland.[citation needed] In the U.K., and North America, on the other hand, carp are rarely eaten.[citation needed]

Carp are similarly variable in terms of angling value. In Europe even when not fished for food they are eagerly sought out by anglers, being considered wily fish that are difficult to hook.[1] In the United States, on the other hand, the carp has not yet gained game-fish status and in the northern states at least is sometimes considered a trash fish of no value.[2] At the same time, it must be noted that there are some very avid carp fishermen in America, who seem to love the thrill of the fight, for carp are very large and muscular creatures -- though being not predators but primarily eaters of water-weeds, they tire quickly. (The New York State record fish is a 50 pounds carp [common] caught on a nightcrawler.)

Carp are an important subsistence aquaculture product, and have been cultivated in complex polycultures since the 7th century AD. Grass carp, silver carp and common carp were all sought after during the Tang dynasty in China (618-907 AD) and did not necessarily compete in the same waters due to their dissimilar feeding habits. Grass carp are fairly unique in that they eat live plant matter with pharyngeal grinding teeth, on which they will feed continuously at the proper temperatures, consuming several times their body weight in grass per day. The other two species are a sort of filter feeder, herbivorous and omnivorous respectively. These are often eaten within a grass/fish dietary polyculture; but historically one of the important food production systems in China, on a subsistence level at least, has been rice/fish culture. The fish provide not only human nutrition, but crop fertilizer, and can increase rice yields per hectare. (However, this system tends to be compatible only with small operations using genotypically lower-yielding tall rice varieties and is not feasible on a commercial scale.) Other poly-cropping systems involving carp include livestock/carp (in which livestock wastes fertilize carp ponds, or more indirectly fertilize row crops whose green manure fertilizes the ponds), and carp/sericulture (in which pond silt is used to fertilize mulberry trees that support silkworm populations.

Ornamental carp

Different colorations of koi

Carp, along with many of their cyprinid relatives, are popular ornamental aquarium and pond fish. The two most notable ornamental carps are goldfish and koi. Goldfish (Carassius auratus) were kept as ornamental fish in China for hundreds of years before being introduced to Japan in the 15th century, and to Europe in the late 17th century. The koi, a domesticated variety of common carp (Cyprinus carpio), also originated from China and spread widely in Japan. The koi are historically a prevalent symbol, in Japanese culture, of good luck. They are shown in competitive fish shows like those at the All-Japan exhibition. They are also popular in other parts of the world as pond fish. Goldfish and koi have advantages over most ornamental fishes, as they are tolerant of cold (they can survive in temperatures as low as 4 degrees Celsius), and can survive at low oxygen levels.

Carp as pests

Carp gather near a dock in Lake Powell

Carp have been introduced, often illegally, in many countries. In some countries including the USA, due to their habit of grubbing through bottom sediments for food and thus causing alteration of their environment, they destroy, uproot and disturb submerged vegetation and wetlands causing serious damage to native duck and fish populations that rely on such vegetation. In Australia there is enormous anecdotal and mounting scientific evidence that introduced carp are the cause of permanent turbidity and loss of submerged vegetation in the Murray-Darling river system, with severe consequences for river ecosystems, water quality and native fish species.

Efforts to eradicate a small colony from Tasmania's Lake Crescent without chemicals have been successful; however, the lengthy, expensive and intensive undertaking is an example of both the possibility and difficulty of safely removing the species once it is established.

Types of carp

Carp swarm in great numbers to eat feed thrown by tourists in Urfa, Turkey.

carpunius maximus (daniel ybarra)

See also

Look up carp in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ a b A. F. Magri MacMahon (1946). Fishlore, pp 149-152. Pelican Books.
  2. ^ http://www.big-river.com/br.story.a.html Carp -- Queen of Rivers or Pig With Fins? November 1993

External links and further readings

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