Common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

General data
- Main name: Common carp
- Climates: Subtropical, Temperate, Continental
- Habitat: Freshwater
- Native: Europe, Asia
- Introduced: North America, Australia & Oceania, Africa
- Distribution: Danube, Ebro, Caspian Sea, Volga, Ural, Bojana, View all... Struma (Strymonas), Lake Ohrid, Pineios (Thessaly), Lake Skadar, Neretva, Po River, Nestos, Maritsa (Evros), Lake Vrana, Don, Kuban, Rhine, Elbe, Glomma, Meuse (Maas), Scheldt, Ems, Dniester, Dnieper, Southern Bug, Mississippi River, Missouri River, St. Lawrence River, Lake Balkhash, Charente, Adour, Columbia River, Hudson River, Potomac, Yangtze, Lake Volvi, Amu Darya, Vistula, River Ob, Oder, Arno, Tiber, Issyk-Kul lake, Loire, Colorado (Texas), Brazos, Trinity (Texas), Murray River, River Thames, River Wye, Daugava (Western Dvina), Seine, Sacramento River, Delaware River, Connecticut River, Savannah river, Garonne, Neuse River, James river, Adige, Guadiana, Tagus, Neman (Nemunas), Atchafalaya, Apalachicola, Guadalquivir, Kamchiya, Veleka, Chorokh, Orange river, Lielupe, Guadalupe, Trent, Great Ouse, Besos, Rappahannock, River Clyde, River Nene, Pascagoula River, Pearl river (Gulf of Mexico), Sabine River, Weser, Bristol Avon, River Witham, River Ribble, River Tees, River Taff, Lake Washington, Roanoke River, Santa Ynez River, Balsas River
Classification
- Genus: Cyprinus - Carps
- Family: Cyprinidae - Carps
- Order: Cypriniformes - Carps
- Class: Teleostei - Ray-finned fishes
- Superclass: Osteichthyes - Bony fishes
Description
Body elongated and somewhat compressed. Lips thick. Two pairs of barbels at angle of mouth, shorter ones on the upper lip. Dorsal fin base long with 17-22 branched rays and a strong, toothed spine in front; dorsal fin outline concave anteriorly. Anal fin with 6-7 soft rays; posterior edge of 3rd dorsal and anal fin spines with sharp spinules. Lateral line with 32 to 38 scales. Pharyngeal teeth 5:5, teeth with flattened crowns. Colour variable, wild carp are brownish-green on the back and upper sides, shading to golden yellow ventrally. The fins are dusky, ventrally with a reddish tinge. Golden carp are bred for ornamental purposes. Native Range: Eurasia. Balon (1995) found that Cyprinus carpio evolved in the Caspian Sea, then migrated naturally to the Black and Aral Seas, east to eastern mainland Asia and west as far as the Danube River.