Species: Cyprinus carpio

Common Carp

Species

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Fishes of Puget Sound and adjacent waters

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

From Scott and Crossman (1973), Jester (1974), and Pflieger (1975): adult length 12-25 in (30.5-63.5 cm) or more; large individuals may reach 20-60 lbs (9.1-27.2 kg); two barbels on each side of upper jaw, posterior pair more conspicuous; relatively small, toothless mouth, with the upper jaw slightly protruding; throat teeth 1,1,3-3,1,1, with teeth in main row broad and molar-like; lateral line complete, with 35 to 38 scales; one long dorsal fin with 17-21 soft rays, and a stout saw-toothed spine in front of dorsal and anal fins; pectoral fins with 14-17 rays; pelvic fins thoracic, originating beneath origin of dorsal fin, 8 or 9 rays; 1 anal fin with 5 branched rays; scales cycloid, large, thick; 35-36 vertebrae; 21-27 gill rakers on first gill arch; color variable: back and sides olivaceous, gold, greenish-olive, reddish-brown, or blackish-red, silver or yellowish-white below; fins dusky, often with red on tail fin and yellow or orange on lower fins; peritoneum gray, often more or less speckled.

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Actinopterygii

Order

Cypriniformes

Family

Cyprinidae

Genus

Cyprinus

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105636

Classification

Other Global Common Names

carpe

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - Minnows and Carps

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Cypriniformes - Cyprinidae - Cyprinus

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A large fish (carp).

Habitat Type Description

Freshwater

Migration

false - false - false

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Omnivorous; adults eat mainly invertebrates, detritus, fish eggs, and plant material (Jester 1974, Becker 1983, Sublette et al. 1990). Fry feed on zooplankton, such as cladocerns and COPEPOD NAUPLII (Buckley et al. 1976) but eat phytoplankton if zooplankton densities are low (Edwards and Twomey 1982). Most stomach analyses indicate that adults eat more animal matter than plant material (Moen 1953, Sigler 1958). Carp from several northwest Iowa lakes had an average of 10% plant material (debris, dead plant material, green fragments of pondweeds and filamentous algae, seeds of aquatic plants) and 90% animal material (midge larvae, caddisfly larvae, and other insect larvae, small crustaceans, small gastropods) (Moen 1953). In contrast, in Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico, carp stomach contents contained 43.5% plant material and 10.2% animal material, with the rest of the food being unrecognizable (Jester 1974). The clorophyta and chrysophyta plant phyla made up 32.5% of all the plant material; copepods and cladocerans were the predominant animal items. Carp have been accused of eating large quantities of native fish eggs, but in both the Iowa and New Mexico, less than 1% of the food was fish eggs. In winter, carp eat considerably less food than in the summer. In Iowa, all of the stomach material examined from fish in winter was animal matter, principally crustaceans and midge larvae (Moen 1953). Foraging occurs on the bottom, on submerged objects, or at the surface (Jester 1974). When bottom feeding, carp swim slowly and steadily, in a head-down oblique position, with the mouth protruded, sucking up material and occasionally expelling it into the water column to pick out food items. Carp also "fan" the silt around rooted aquatic plants with their fins to uncover food items around the roots, and they sometimes pull up rooted vegetation for eating or uncovering food (Owen et al. 1981). Surface feeding is accompanied by a great deal of splashing and jumping from the water (Jester 1974).

Reproduction Comments

Spawning occurs in spring and summer. Optimal water temperature for spawning is 18-22 C, although spawning can occur at water temperatures of 16-26 C (Shields 1957, Sigler 1958, Swee and McCrimmon 1966, Jester 1974). In South Dakota, a combination of rapidly rising water levels that inundated spawning areas and water temperatures above 62 F (16.5 C) were the primary stimulants for spawning (Shields 1957). Carp spawn from April through early August in Wisconsin (Miller 1952), mid-May through early August in Ontario (Swee and McCrimmon 1966), and late March through early fall in Missouri (Pflieger 1975) and New Mexico (Jester 1974). The spawning act begins by the segregation of carp into small groups of 4-20 individuals, led by a large female. With their backs and dorsal fins sticking above the water, the female broadcasts her eggs while swimming and splashing and several males release milt into the water. The sticky eggs adhere to plants, logs, and rocks and harden in 15-25 minutes. In Ontario, 90% of the eggs attached to vegetation were fertile (Swee and McCrimmon 1966). The average number of eggs per female in New Mexico is 47,134 (Jester 1974) and 902,942 in Ontario (Swee and McCrimmon 1966). There is a direct relationship between the number of eggs produced and the length (and age) of the female. Very large (19.1-23.3 lbs, 8.7-10.1 kg) and old (16-18 years) females can produce 1-2 million eggs (Swee and McCrimmon 1966, Jester 1974). Many females retain as much as 20% of their eggs for a second spawn, and males spawn with several females throughout the season (Swee and McCrimmon 1966). The eggs hatch in 3-16 days, depending on the water temperature, and the newly hatched fry are approximately 3 mm long (Swee and McCrimmon 1966). The age of sexual maturity varies with water temperature. Males become sexually mature at 2-3 years in Wisconsin, South Dakota, and New Mexico, and at 3-4 years in Ontario (Threinen 1949, Shields 1957, Swee and McCrimmon 1966, Jester 1974). Females mature approximately one year later. In Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico, carp had an average life span of 1.3 years (Jester 1974). The maximum lifespan for males appears to be 8-10 years and 16-18 years for females (Swee and McCrimmon 1966, Jester 1974).

Ecology Comments

Carp have well-defined home ranges in both summer and winter but do not use the same ranges from season to season or from year to year (Otis and Weber 1982). In Wisconsin, winter home ranges, were one-third the size of summer ranges, and most of the everyday activities occurred in an area encompassing about 45% of the home range (Otis and Weber 1982). Extensive movements sometimes occur. In a mark-recapture study in Missouri, 51.3% of the carp were recaptured within 1 mile of their release site and 90% stayed within 25 miles, but one individual was recaptured over 200 miles away (Funk 1955). In a Wisconsin lake, most anchor-tagged carp were recaptured within 2 miles of their release site, but one carp moved 7.5 miles (12.1 km) in 18 days and one was recaptured 19.5 miles (31.4 km) away after 72 days (Otis and Weber 1982). A carp tagged near Columbia, Missouri, was recaptured 28 months later in South Dakota, a distance of 676 stream miles (1090 km) (Pflieger 1975). Adult carp have few enemies except humans; some juveniles are prey for predatory fishes, birds, and mammals. Sometimes, in shallow lakes and ponds, large numbers are killed by severe winter conditions (Shields 1957, Jessen and Kuehn 1958, Threinen 1949). Large-scale destruction of eggs occurs when water levels drop after the major spring spawning period, exposing and desiccating millions of eggs (Shields 1957, Sigler 1958).

Length

122

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-09-13

Global Status Last Changed

1996-09-13

Other Status

DD - Data deficient

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

Native to temperate Eurasia; has been domesticated and selectively bred for human food for several centuries in Asia and Europe. The first stockings of carp in the United States occurred around 1872 and for the next 25 years the fish were stocked throughout the United States (Lachner et al. 1970, Phillips et al. 1982). At first, carp were a popular game and food fish, but by the turn of the century, the fish had become so well established and abundant in many waterways that stocking programs were discontinued. Carp are now found in every state except Hawaii and Alaska, in five Canadian provinces, and on every continent except Antarctica (Scott and Crossman 1973, Jester 1974, Edwards and Twomey 1982).

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105636