Grass carp

Grass fish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Squaliobarbinae
Genus: Ctenopharyngodon
Steindachner, 1866
Species:
C. idella
Binomial name
Ctenopharyngodon idella
(Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1844)
Synonyms
  • Leuciscus idella Valenciennes, 1844
  • Ctenopharingodon idellus (Valenciennes, 1844)
  • Ctenopharyngodon idellus (Valenciennes, 1844)
  • Leuciscus tschiliensis Basilewsky, 1855
  • Ctenopharyngodon laticeps Steindachner, 1866
  • Sarcocheilichthys teretiusculus Kner, 1867
  • Pristiodon siemionovii Dybowski, 1877
Adult grass carp
Juvenile grass carp

The grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russian border.[2] This Asian carp is the only species of the genus Ctenopharyngodon.

Grass carp are resident fish of large turbid rivers and associated floodplain lakes/wetlands with a wide range of temperature tolerance, and spawn at temperatures of 20 to 30 °C (68 to 86 °F).[2][3] It has been cultivated as a food fish in China for centuries, being known as one of the "Four Great Domestic Fish" (Chinese: 四大家鱼), but was later introduced to Europe and the United States for aquatic weed control, becoming the fish species with the largest reported farmed production globally, over five million tonnes per year.[4]

  1. ^ Bogutskaya, N. (2022). "Ctenopharyngodon idella". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T61295A3102796. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T61295A3102796.en. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b Mandrak and Cudmore. 2004. Biological Synopsis of Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ Shireman, J.V. and C.R. Smith. 1983. Synopsis of biological data on the grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Cuvier and Valentines, 1844). Food and Aquaculture Organization Synopsis. 135: 86pp.
  4. ^ World aquaculture production of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, etc., by principal species in 2013 FAO Yearbook of Fisheries Statistics 2014