Common carp

The carp is a big fish.

It lives in lakes and rivers. It likes to eat bugs and plants.

This fish can grow very large.

It can live for many years. One fish lived to be 64!

Carp have little whiskers on their mouths. These help them feel for food in the mud. They suck up dirt to find tasty treats.

Some carp have very few scales. These are called mirror carp. Their scales look like shiny mirrors.

People keep many types of carp. Some are kept for food. Others are kept because they are pretty.

The common carp is a large fish.

It lives in lakes and big rivers. These fish come from Europe and Asia. People have farmed them for a long time. They even farmed carp in Roman times.

Carp have a strong body. They have shiny scales and large fins. They have two pairs of barbels on their mouths. These barbels are like little whiskers.

The carp uses them to feel for food in the mud. It sucks up dirt to find tasty things. They eat plants, bugs, and worms. They do not have a stomach. Instead, they use pharyngeal teeth to grind food. These teeth are in their throat.

Some carp look different because of how they are bred. Mirror carp have large, shiny scales.

Leather carp have very few scales. People also keep koi carp. These are colorful fish kept for decoration.

Some carp can grow to be very big. One carp in France weighed 38 pounds!

The common carp is a widespread freshwater fish.

It lives in lakes and large rivers across Europe and Asia. These fish love eutrophic waters, which are areas with lots of nutrients. Because they are so hardy, people have introduced them to almost every part of the world. However, they can also be a problem in new places. Some experts list them among the 100 worst invasive species. This is because they can out-compete the fish that already live there.

Finding food is a busy job for a carp. They are benthic feeders, which means they look for food on the very bottom.

They use two pairs of barbels near their mouths to feel for things in the mud. These barbels act like little sensors to find insects, worms, or seeds. The carp creates suction to pull up sediment and mouth the contents. They use their sense of taste and size to pick out the good bits. They even have ten pharyngeal teeth in their throat to grind food. Since they have no stomach, they must process their food carefully.

Humans have a very long history with this fish. People began farming them as far back as Roman times.

In Europe, monks helped spread the practice of farming carp between the 13th and 16th centuries. Some carp were even found in the Danube River delta 2,000 years ago. Over time, people bred different types for different reasons. Some were kept for food, while others were made for beauty. The colorful koi carp from Japan is a famous example.

These beautiful fish started in the Niigata region during the 1820s.

Common carp are famous for how much they can grow.

A wild carp is usually slimmer than a farmed one. While they are often around 20 to 30 inches long, they can get much larger. In 2013, a huge carp was caught in France that weighed 38 pounds. Another amazing fact is how long they can live. One wild carp in North America lived to be 64 years old! Female carp are also very productive. A single female can lay 300,000 eggs in one spawn. Some can even lay over a million eggs in a single year.

There are many different ways a carp might look. Some are bred to have very few scales. Mirror carp have large, shiny scales that look like little mirrors. Leather carp have almost no scales at all. You might also see them in ponds or even large lakes.

They are very tough and can survive in water with low oxygen. They even stay safe in frozen ponds by gulping air at the surface. Whether they are wild or kept as pets, they are a big part of our world.

The common carp, known scientifically as Cyprinus carpio, is a widespread freshwater fish.

It thrives in eutrophic waters, which are environments rich in nutrients, such as large rivers and lakes. While native to Europe and Asia, humans have introduced them to almost every part of the world. This global spread has made them a complex species. In many places, they are farmed for food through aquaculture. However, they are also considered one of the world's 100 worst invasive species. This is because they can out-compete native fish populations in new habitats.

Physiologically, the common carp is built for life on the water's bottom.

They are benthic feeders, meaning they search for food in the sediment. To find prey, they use two pairs of barbels near their mouths. These barbels act as sensors to feel for insects, worms, or plant tubers. The carp creates suction to pull up mud and sediment. It then mouths the contents to identify food by taste and size. While they have no oral teeth, they possess ten pharyngeal teeth in their throat. These teeth are used to crush or grind food items before they pass through the intestines.

Common carp are highly adaptable to various environmental conditions.

They prefer slow-moving or standing water with soft, vegetative sediments. They can tolerate a wide pH range from 6.5 to 9.0. They are also quite salt tolerant compared to other freshwater fish. Research shows they can withstand salinity levels of at least 12 g/L. If oxygen levels in the water become very low, they can gulp air at the surface to survive. They can even survive winter in frozen-over ponds as long as some liquid water remains below the ice.

Humans have shaped the carp through domestication for thousands of years.

Records of carp farming date back to Roman times. In Europe, monks helped spread carp farming between the 13th and 16th centuries. This long history of breeding has created many different varieties. For example, the ornamental koi carp originated in the Niigata region of Japan in the 1820s.

Other varieties were bred specifically for food. These include the mirror carp, which has large, shiny scales, and the leather carp, which has very few scales.

Genetic mutations have led to these distinct physical appearances. The mirror carp phenotype is caused by a mutation at specific scale trait loci. This involves the S and N alleles. A mirror carp has a genotype of "ssnn," meaning it is all recessive. This mutation affects the fibroblast growth factor receptor, known as Fgfr1A1. In contrast, the leather carp is also recessive at the S locus but is heterozygous at the N locus. This specific genetic combination results in a body with almost no scales at all.

Common carp are also known for their impressive size and longevity.

While wild carp are typically slimmer, domesticated versions grow much larger. Domesticated carp can reach a maximum length of 1.3 meters and weigh over 30 kilograms. The largest recorded common carp was caught in France in 2013 and weighed 15.8 kilograms. They are also very long-lived. One documented wild carp in North America lived to be 64 years old. Their reproductive capacity is equally massive. A single female can lay 300,000 eggs in one spawn, and over a million eggs in a single year.

In the wider ecosystem, the common carp plays many roles. They are omnivores that eat plants, seeds, insects, and even other fish remains. Because they root through the bottom, they often stir up sediment. This process increases water turbidity, or cloudiness. Their eggs and young fry are often eaten by many different predators. These include birds like herons and ospreys, as well as mammals like otters and mink. By changing the water and competing for food, they significantly impact the balance of the freshwater systems they inhabit.