Cyprinus carpio carpio  Linnaeus, 1758

Common carp
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Cyprinus carpio carpio
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Cypriniformes (Carps) > Cyprinidae (Minnows or carps) > Cyprininae
Etymology: Cyprinus: Latin, cyprinus = carp (Ref. 45335);  carpio carpio: carpio is the latinized form of carp (Ref. 1998). cyprinus is the old world name for the carp (Ref. 10294).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.0 - 7.5; dH range: 10 - 15; potamodromous (Ref. 51243).   Subtropical; 3°C - 35°C (Ref. 12741); 60°N - 40°N

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 35.1, range 25 - ? cm
Max length : 110 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 59043); common length : 31.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3561); max. published weight: 40.1 kg (Ref. 72380); max. reported age: 38 years (Ref. 72479)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 3 - 4; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17-23; Anal spines: 2-3; Anal soft rays: 5 - 6; Vertebrae: 36 - 37. Diagnosed from other cyprinid species in Europe by having the following characters: 2 pairs of barbels; dorsal fin with 15-20½ branched rays; caudal fin deeply emarginate (Ref. 59043). Pharyngeal teeth 1, 1, 3:3, 1,1, robust, molar-like with crown flattened or somewhat furrowed. Scales large and thick. `Wild carp ' is generally distinguished by its less stocky build with height of body 1:3.2-4.8 in standard length. Very variable in form, proportions, squamation, development of fins, and color. Caudal fin with 3 spines and 17-19 rays (Ref. 2196). Last simple anal ray bony and serrated posteriorly; 4 barbels; 17-20 branched dorsal rays; body grey to bronze (Ref. 43281). Also Ref. 3398, 3410.

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions | Faunafri

Europe to Asia: Black, Caspian and Aral Sea basins. Introduced throughout the world. Wild stocks are only present naturally in rivers draining to the Black, Caspian and Aral Sea (Ref. 59043). A reophilic wild population in the Danube is assumed to be the origin of the European species; this population is now under threat (Ref. 13696).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults inhabit warm, deep, slow-flowing and still waters such as lowland rivers and large, well vegetated lakes (Ref. 59043). Hardy and tolerant of a wide variety of conditions but generally favor large water bodies with slow flowing or standing water and soft bottom sediments. Thrive in large turbid rivers (Ref. 1998). Most active at dusk and dawn. Both adults and juveniles feed on a variety of benthic organisms and plant material. Spawns along shores or in backwaters. Adults often undertake considerable spawning migration to suitable backwaters and flooded meadows. Larvae survive only in very warm water among shallow submerged vegetation. River regulation and hybridization with domesticated stocks, East Asian congeners and their hybrids have caused continuous decline of wild populations (Ref. 59043). Utilized fresh and frozen (Ref. 9987). Aquarium keeping: in groups of 5 or more individuals; minimum aquarium size >200 cm; not recommended for home aquariums (Ref. 51539).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kottelat, M. and J. Freyhof, 2007. Handbook of European freshwater fishes. Publications Kottelat, Cornol, Switzerland. 646 p.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2ce)

Threat to humans

  Potential pest




Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Aquaculture: production, species profile; fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Alien/Invasive Species database | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01075 (-0.00805 - 0.02955), b=3.04 (3.03 - 3.06), based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.0   ±0.3 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.10-0.30; tm=1-3; tmax=20; Fec=36,000-2,000,000).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.