The carp fish got its name not by chance, in Greek, carp means “fruit” or “harvest”. Individuals are really well fed and quickly gain weight. In addition, they are very prolific. The fish are large, the average live weight is 2 kg, although more impressive specimens are often found. Today, carp are bred both for sale and as an object of sport and amateur fishing
Origin
Carp belongs to the subspecies of ray-finned fish of the carp family. In fact, it is a cultural form of the river carp. Unlike the wild ancestor, carps are more tenacious and prolific. This type of fish (carps) began to be bred in ancient China. Long-term selection gave the result: the shape of the head and body changed, the scales became larger. The success of fish breeding in ponds contributed to its spread from China, first to the Asian region, and then it received a "registration" in Europe. In the 19th century, carp was introduced to the Americas.
Description
Carp fish (photo - in the text) -quite a nice representative of the river expanses. The color of the scales depends on the habitat and can be brown, golden or yellow-green. The back is darker than the sides. Some varieties lack scales.
Description of carp fish:
- Torso. Juveniles have a flat and humped body. With age, it takes the form of a cylinder. This is typical for river dwellers. Pond - shorter and thicker.
- Head. Large size, yellow-golden eyes, black pupils, retractable mouth, two pairs of whiskers on the upper lip. Lips fleshy, thick.
- Fins. Dorsal - long and wide, with a small notch, anal - short. Both fins have a spiny serrated ray. The lower fins are usually dark purple (in the river). Tail - powerful, dark red
Intensive growth in the first year of life allows the fish to "lengthen" by 20 cm, while the weight can reach 1 kg (with artificial fattening). Life expectancy - up to 50 years. During this time, the carp manages to grow up to 1 meter and gain an average of 25 kg.
Carp is a schooling fish. Juveniles gather in groups of several dozen goals. Large, several hundred, communities are rare. Large individuals prefer to stay alone. With the onset of cold weather, they unite in groups for joint wintering. How do fish winter? In the cold season, carps can be observed in deep pits, where they are in a half-asleep state, they stand almost motionless. A thick layer of mucus helps to survive the cold. Fish do not suffocate under a layer of ice in water with a low oxygen content. Fromhibernation fish awakens only at the end of March, in more northern regions - in April. Moreover, at first, she does not sail far from the pit.
In windy weather, the noise of reeds and trees makes the carp swim alone. Pisces are very cautious and shy. Compared to other species, they swim relatively slowly. A characteristic feature of the carp is acrobatic jumps over water. Adult experienced fish distinguish the noise of footsteps on the shore. The ability to hear is used in fish farms. Fish are taught to swim up to feed at the sound of a bell. In addition, the carp is able to see not only the shadow of the hunter and fishing rods, but even see the fishing line. He knows how to jump out of the net. Hearing how they are thrown, the fish instantly rushes to the depth.
Varieties
For several millennia, a huge number of breeds have been bred. More than 80 are considered decorative only. The main breeds of carp fish:
- Mirror. The result of a mutation of a common carp obtained in Germany. A characteristic feature is the arrangement of large silvery scales in rows along the lateral line and back. Can live in well-aerated water, this is due to a lack of blood cells. They do not like depth, they stay in shallow water. This breed is most often stocked with artificial ponds.
- Skinny, or naked. There are no scales on the body of the fish. Some individuals have them in small numbers near the dorsal fin, gill cover and base of the tail.
- Ordinary, or scaly. The very first cultivated variety. Differences from carpminimal. He is the ancestor of all the other numerous forms of cyprinids obtained as a result of mutations and crossbreeding experiments. This species is the record holder in terms of growth rates and ability to survive in a wide variety of conditions. Can live in shallow stagnant ponds, deep quarries or flowing rivers.
- Framed. Separate parts of the body are covered with scales: the belly and back. Moreover, the size of the scale itself is very "various". In other respects, it is similar to the ordinary one.
- Koi, or brocade. An ornamental fish of the carp family, its homeland is Japan. The first individuals had a limited color range. There were three main colors: red, black and white. Currently, in garden ponds you can see carp with a very unusual color, including a combination.
Habitats
Carp is a river fish, it lives in the basins of the Caspian, Black, Aral and Azov Seas. It is found in Central Asia, Siberia, in Ukraine it is found in almost all rivers, but not in large numbers. It can inhabit almost any, even polluted reservoirs. In the north of Europe, fish are not found, since they are heat-loving. Carp is found in Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Australia, USA.
Places where you can most often find carp:
- lakes, ponds and quiet river backwaters with moderately silty uneven bottoms;
- grassy shallow water;
- near floating islands;
- deep and wide ducts with weak flow;
- valley reservoirs;
- flooded old gravel-sandcareer;
- flooded fields;
- pools with a muddy or clay bottom, with lots of snags;
- thickets of aquatic plants (reeds).
Loves oxygenated water. Very rarely, fish can be observed in low-s alt water, but this happens under emergency circumstances (for example, a dam break). When the water warms up well, the carp goes to shallow water and areas with the flow. In summer it stays at a depth of 2-5 meters, in autumn it drops to 10, in winter it goes even deeper into the pits.
The presence of a carp in a particular body of water is confirmed by its jumping out of the water. The sound at the same time resembles the sharp croaking of a frog, it cannot be confused with any other. The fish jumps up to a height of 2 meters, almost vertically. What is the purpose of these acrobatic jumps, it is not known exactly, perhaps this is a kind of physical training.
Spawning
Wintering ends in the spring flood, when the water temperature rises to 10 degrees. Carps spawn in overgrown areas up to 2 meters deep. Small swamps, water meadows, sometimes puddles, where the water level does not even cover the fish, are quite suitable. For reproduction, it is not enough to reach the appropriate age (3-5 years), you also need to grow up. Males cannot be smaller than 29 cm, females larger than 35 cm. The spawning sequence is strictly defined, first - a trifle, then - medium, and finally - the largest individuals.
Spawning is possible when the water warms up to 16-19 °C. When it gets colder in the northern regions, spawning is interrupted. active spawningstarts at sunset and continues for 12 hours. The beginning of the mating season depends on the climatic zone. In warm areas - in April-May, in Siberia - in July. The eggs of one "mother" are fertilized by up to 5 males. The fecundity of carp is amazing, a large female is capable of producing up to one and a half million eggs. The spawned eggs are immediately watered with milk, after which the carps leave the spawning place and behave passively for the next two weeks.
The larvae hatch from sticky eggs. Attached to plants and remain on it for some time. Then they begin to move, zooplankton serves as food. The grown up youth passes already to the small living creatures living at the bottom. Development and growth are going at an accelerated pace, by autumn the young are gaining weight up to 500 grams.
Forage base
Carp is an omnivorous fish. After hibernation, feeding begins at a water temperature of 14-15 ° C. It swims out to feed in shallow water in the early morning and late evening. In cloudy weather, it can feed throughout the day. Falls into the pits at night.
Adults eat eggs of other fish species, frogs, small fish, worms, insects, sometimes crayfish, mollusks, crustaceans, larvae. In the absence of a sufficient amount of food, it feeds on mucus from the surface of plants, manure (near watering places). There are cases of cannibalism, adult fish can destroy fry. Preference is given to young shoots of reeds.
A feature of carp is its increased sensitivity to odors. Another nuance is the structure of the digestive system. Under favorable conditions, fish are able to eat almostnonstop. Large individuals hunt alone, young animals are grouped in packs - it is easier to resist predators, and hunting is more successful. Surprisingly, with an extensive list of taste preferences for carp, choosing a bait for catching it is not at all easy.
Breeding
There are several ways to breed fish. Carp are fed according to different systems:
- Extensive. With this option, the fish eats only natural food - bottom fauna, zooplankton and others. The increase in live weight is insignificant, but the product is of high quality, environmentally friendly. Another plus is minimal costs.
- Semi-intense. In addition to natural feed, fish receive carbohydrate supplements. Although such feeding does not fully satisfy the need of fish for proteins, productivity is noticeably higher (700-1400 kg/ha) than with an extensive feeding system.
- Intense. Carp fish are fattened with a special compound feed with a very high protein content. With the highest financial costs, they get a high result - up to 20 tons per hectare. Additional expenses are spent on maintaining cleanliness in the ponds, otherwise diseases and a massive kill of fish are inevitable.
Catching
Karp is a strong and very cautious fish. It often becomes an object of sport fishing. A few secrets from experienced anglers:
- best time for fishing is summer, he loves warm water;
- in the spring it is better to look for it in the streams flowing into the reservoir, a good forage base keeps it here until the startspawning;
- more likely to catch fish in deep areas with uneven ground next to snags or shallow water overgrown with grass;
- It is easier to catch in muddy water, carp behave more boldly in it;
- fishing from the shore requires silence, especially in small waters;
- constantly changing tastes make fishermen often experiment with lure, bait and rigging;
- sliding equipment is relevant for winter fishing, it is more sensitive and will react to a very inexpressive bite;
- complementary feeding is carried out in the daytime and at different depths;
- on warm summer evenings on sandbars, the chance to catch fish increases;
- to prepare complementary foods, it is better to use water from the reservoir of the proposed fishing;
- canned corn juice is good to add to bait, let it brew for 10 minutes before use;
- the most intense biting starts 7-10 days after spawning;
- change of weather affects fish biting;
- the best bite is in cloudy weather, after a thunderstorm or during a short summer rain.
For complementary foods use:
- maggots;
- worm;
- bloodworm;
- corn;
- pellets (special pellets, can be used as bait and as complementary foods);
- potato;
- dough;
- boilies (dough balls of various colors, smells, tastes and diameters)
- peas.
Compound feed is often used to feed mirror carp. Catchdifferent tackle:
- float rod;
- matching head (4 to 6m) with spinning reel;
- donkey;
- two-handed spinning.
Cooking carp
What fish carp tastes like, probably almost everyone knows. The characteristic aftertaste may increase during long-term storage of the carcass. Therefore, it is better to use fresh live fish. Affordable, it is prepared in a variety of ways: fried, boiled, baked in the oven, stuffed, filled with jelly, dried, marinated. Doctors do not recommend eating carp without heat treatment, as dangerous parasites in fish are not uncommon.
100 grams of product contains:
- proteins - 16g;
- fats - 5.3g;
- carbohydrates - 0g;
- vitamin A - 0.02mg;
- vitamin B1 – 0.14mg;
- vitamin B2 – 0.13mg;
- vitamin PP - 1, 80 mg;
- sodium - 55mg;
- potassium - 265mg;
- calcium - 35mg;
- magnesium - 25mg;
- phosphorus - 210 mg;
- iron - 0.8 mg;
- calories - 112 kcal.
Low calorie and no carbs allow you to include carp dishes in all kinds of diets. It is recommended for digestive problems, diabetes, thyroid diseases. Fish is good for the skin and mucous membranes. It has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and is an excellent antioxidant. Increases the level of oxygen consumption by cells during chronic and acute hypoxia, participates in the metabolism of fats. Fish filletperfectly absorbed by the human body.
Curious facts
Karp is distinguished by rare bonyness, there are fifteen thousand bones in its body. Different countries have their own customs related to fish:
- many residents of European countries consider it necessary to put a dish of carp on the Christmas table;
- Italians love food;
- Poles have a symbol of strength;
- for the Chinese - the personification of perseverance;
- Japanese May 5 - on the Day of the boys on the poles hang the image of a carp.
A few interesting facts about ornamental koi:
- the longest-lived record holder, the world-famous Japanese fish Hanako, who lived for more than 200 years, was passed on to heirs from generation to generation and was considered a family jewel;
- fish produce ammonia;
- koi can recognize their owners by footsteps;
- they are easy to train to take food from their hands;
- they are very fond of affection and are happy to "communicate" with the owner;
- all over the world they hold exhibitions with the participation of koi, where not only the exterior is evaluated, but also such an indicator as loy alty to a person;
- in Japan, each fish has its own name, most often very poetic.
The largest
Carp fish (see photo of a large specimen above) can be gigantic. In 2007, a fisherman pulled a giant of 127 kg from Lake Bung Sam Lan (near Bangkok) using a regular bait. The European record is more modest. ATIn 2015, a specimen weighing 48 kg was caught in a small commercial pond in Hungary.
