Grass carp

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Grass carp
Ctenopharyngodon idella 01 Pengo.jpg

Grass carp ( Ctenopharyngodon idella )

Systematics
without rank: Otophysa
Order : Carp-like (Cypriniformes)
Subordination : Carp fish-like (Cyprinoidei)
Family : Xenocyprididae
Genre : Ctenopharyngodon
Type : Grass carp
Scientific name of the  genus
Ctenopharyngodon
Steindachner , 1866
Scientific name of the  species
Ctenopharyngodon idella
( Valenciennes , 1844)

The grass carp ( Ctenopharyngodon idella ), also called white amur , grass fish or Chinese carp , is the only fish species of the monotypical genus Ctenopharyngodon in the family of Xenocyprididae .

features

Grass carp have an elongated body that is similar to the chub ( Leuciscus cephalus ) and can grow to a length of 120 centimeters. The muzzle is blunt and indented between the nostrils. The mouth is slightly underneath and has no beard threads. The ventral side is rounded. The grass carp has large scales, 42 to 45 of which are present along the sidelines. Below the sideline there are five rows of scales, while the chub has only three to four. The dorsal fin has ten rays, the anal fin eleven, of which the first three are unfeathered. The pharynx teeth are in two rows, pressed together at the sides, ground at an angle and notched in a saw shape. The tooth formula is (1) 2. (4) 5-5 (4) .2. The back is dark green to greenish black. The flanks are lighter and greenish, the belly is whitish. The scales have a dark border (network drawing).

Occurrence

Grass carp
Cub

The species is native to China , where it is found in calm, deep rivers and lakes in the plains. The optimal water temperature is between 22 and 26 ° C. The natural distribution can hardly be determined today, since the grass carp was artificially stocked in China as early as the 10th century. In the 1960s it was also released in many bodies of water in Europe and America, often together with silver carp and marble carp , to control aquatic plants .

Way of life

The grass carp is a warmth-loving species, but it can also tolerate lower temperatures. In the Yangtze River in China, the animals are sexually mature in the 4th to 5th year, in cooler areas only in the 6th to 8th year of life. Spawning takes place in strongly flowing water over gravelly ground. The incubation period is 32 to 40 hours at a water temperature of 27 to 29 ° C. In the beginning the fry feed on small animals, from a length of six to ten centimeters they switch to plant-based food, whereby their intestinal canal is 2 to 2.5 times longer than their body size.

literature

  • Fritz Terofal: Freshwater fish in European waters . Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-576-10564-6
  • Roland Gerstmeier, Thomas Romig: The freshwater fish of Europe , Kosmos-Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07068-9

Web links

Commons : Grass Carp  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: grass carp  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations