COMMON
NAME: The Common Carp
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cyprinus carpio
DESCRIPTION: The common carp is not native to North
America. Carp hatch from tiny eggs less than 0.4 inches (1
mm) in diameter and grow to a weight of 33 pounds (15 kg)
and a length of 40 inches (1 meter) in 5 to 6 years. They
can live for over 20 years. Carp have stocky bodies, large
scales, and range in color from dark olive bronze on the top
of the back to lighter silvery yellow on the belly. The
color intensity varies to blend with the color of the water
or the habitat background. The tail is forked with rounded
lobes. The dorsal and ventral fins have a stiff-barbed spine
at the front followed by soft flexible rays. Carp have
numerous rows of small bones within the major muscle groups
of the back and sides. They have good eyesight and are
sensitive, like all fish, to sound, and disturbances in or
near the water. They have sensitive smell/taste organs in
and around the snout that assist in feeding. They are sight
and smell feeders, eating insects, seeds, and other small
organisms and plants in clear water, and relying on their
sensitive sense of smell to locate food in turbid waters.
The mouth and lips are adapted to extend like a short tube
for sucking up food.
DISTRIBUTION: Carp are abundant in most warm water
lakes and slow moving streams. The species, a native of
Asia, was widely introduced in Europe. They were
intentionally introduced to this country by the United
States Fish Commission in the late 1880's, being heralded as
a new sport and food fish. Hardy and prolific breeders, carp
spread from these initial stockings into all of the
continental states. They have accidentally invaded lakes and
ponds along with stockings of other fish or live bait. They
are now well established throughout the US.
NATURAL HISTORY: Carp prefer slow moving rivers
and streams and warm lake habitats with abundant vegetation.
They feed on a wide variety of plant and animal food items
from the waters surface, from vegetation and rocks, and from
stream and lake bottoms. Shallow sloughs and marshes,
adjacent to stream channels or lakes, are preferred breeding
habitats. Spawning is triggered in the spring by warming
water temperatures and increasing day length, peaking at
62.6 F (17 C). The fecundity per female varies with the size
of the fish from 36,000 to over two million eggs for a large
adult. The females deposit their adhesive eggs on aquatic
plants or submerged brush as several males cluster around
and distribute milt into the surrounding water to fertilize
them. The fry hatch in three to six days. These 0.39 inch
(10 mm) juvenile fish feed on plankton , at first, moving to
larger and larger food items as they grow.
SIGNIFICANCE: Carp are destructive, non-native fish.
Carp are omnivorous (eating both plants and animals), their
bottom feeding habits causing great destruction of aquatic
resources. They compete heavily with diving ducks, such as
canvasbacks, for submerged plants. Carp of all sizes compete
with native fauna for aquatic food, and destroy the nests
and eat the eggs of other spawning fish. They stir up silt
and degrade the water quality resulting in loss of other
more desirable fish and animals.
Juvenile carp do provide forage for game fish, but
quickly grow too large for this purpose. Although carp
provide good action when caught on rod and reel, they are
not classified as a sport fish and are difficult to catch
much of the year. Their bony structure and often muddy
tasting flesh reduce their desirability as a food fish.
CONVERSTATION: The presence of carp in nearly all
of our rivers, streams, and reservoirs is a constant
reminder that our environment is a complex relationship
among all habitats and organisms. The introduction of any
non-native organism may have tremendous impacts on these
habitats. It is seldom possible to eradicate an organism
once it gets established. We must support our management
agencies in maintaining strict and well enforced regulations
regarding the introduction of exotic organisms to any of our
habitats. Only after exhaustive research and evaluation
should these introductions be allowed. Carp have compromised
the conservation of most of our clear water aquatic plants
and animals, with little benefit in return.
REFERENCES:
- Eddy, Samuel, and James C. Underhill, How to Know the
Freshwater Fishes. William C. Brown
Company Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa.
