Carp

All 4 species of carp on WAnimals

Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 108 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Where to see them

Did you know…?

• A close relative, the bigmouth buffalo, has turned out to live as long as 148 years, one of the longest-lived vertebrates ever documented.

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• It eats insects, larvae, water plants and organic matter from the bottom.

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• It is considered invasive in many regions where it has been introduced.

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• At the noise of outboard motors it leaps up to three metres clear of the water, and mass jumping has caused numerous injuries to boaters on the rivers of the American Midwest.

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• Its filtering apparatus retains particles only a few microns across, which lets it live directly on phytoplankton without depending on animal prey.

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• In its native range in China its wild populations have declined through dams and overfishing, while it runs riot as an invader on the other side of the world.

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• Bred selectively in Japan since the 19th century; some fish have been credited with over 200 years.

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• Koi breeding began in the nineteenth century among the farmers of the Niigata region, who raised carp in their rice paddies and started setting aside the fish with coloured markings.

Ecosystems