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CARP

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 382 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CARP , the typical See also:

fish of a large See also:family (Cyprinidae) of Ostariophysi, as they have been called by M. Sagemehl, in which the See also:air-See also:bladder is connected with the See also:ear by a See also:chain of small bones (so-called Weberian ossicles). The mouth is usually more or less protractile and always toothless; the See also:lower pharyngeal bones, which are large and falciform, subparallel to the branchial See also:arches, are provided with See also:teeth, often large and highly specialized, in one, two or three See also:series (pharyngeal teeth), usually working against a horny See also:plate attached to a See also:vertical See also:process of the basioccipital See also:bone produced under the anterior vertebrae, mastication being performed in the gullet. These teeth, adapted to various requirements, vary according to the genus, being conical, hooked, See also:spoon-shaped, molariform, &c. The See also:species are extremely numerous, about 1400 being known, nearly entirely confined to fresh See also:water, and feeding on See also:vegetable substances or small animals. They are dispersed over the whole See also:world with the exception of See also:South See also:America, See also:Madagascar, Papuasia, and See also:Australasia. Remains of several of the existing genera have been found in Oligocene and later beds of See also:Europe, See also:Sumatra and See also:North America. One member of the Cyprinidae is at See also:present known to be viviparous, but no observations have as yet been made on its habits. It is a small See also:barbel discovered in See also:Natal by Max See also:Weber, and described by him under the name Barb us viviparus. The Cyprinidae' are divided into four subfamilies:—Catostominae (mostly from North America, with a few species from See also:China and eastern See also:Siberia), in which the maxillary bones take a See also:share in the border of the mouth, and the pharyngeal teeth are very numerous and See also:form a single, See also:comb-like series; Cyprininae, the See also:great bulk of the family, more or less conforming to the type of the carp; Cobitinae, or loaches (Europe, See also:Asia, See also:Abyssinia), which are dealt with in a See also:separate See also:article (see See also:LoACH); and the Homalopterinae (China and south-eastern Asia), See also:mountain forms allied to the loaches, with a quite rudimentary air-bladder. For descriptions of other Cyprinids than the carp, see See also:GoLDFISH, BARBEL, See also:GUDGEON, See also:RUDD, See also:ROACH, See also:CHUB, See also:DACE, See also:MINNOW, See also:TENCH, See also:BREAM, See also:BLEAK, See also:BITTERLING, See also:MAHSEER. The carp itself, Cyprinus carpio, has a very wide See also:distribution, having spread, through the agency of See also:man, over nearly the whole of Europe and a See also:part of North America, where-it lives in lakes, ponds, canals, and slow-See also:running See also:rivers with plenty of The See also:Common Carp.

vegetation. The carp appears to be a native of temperate Asia and perhaps also of south-eastern Europe, and to have been introduced into other parts in the 12th and 13th See also:

century; it was first mentioned in See also:England in 1496. The See also:acclimatization of the carp in America has been a great success, especially in the See also:northern See also:waters, where, the growth continuing throughout the entire See also:year, the fish soon attains a remarkable See also:size. The presence of carp in Indo-China and the See also:Malay See also:Archipelago is probably also to be ascribed to human agency. In the See also:British Isles the 1 The name of the fishes of the genus Cyprinus is derived from the See also:island of See also:Cyprus, the See also:ancient See also:sanctuary of See also:Venus; this name is supposed to have arisen from observations of the fecundity and vivacity of carp during the spawning See also:period.carp seldom reaches a length of 21 ft., and a See also:weight of 201b, whilst examples of that size are quite frequent on the See also:continent, and others measuring 41 ft. and weighing 6o lb or more are on See also:record. The fish is characterized by its large scales (34 to 40 in the lateral See also:line), its See also:long dorsal fin, the first See also:ray of which is stiff and serrated, and the presence of two small barbels on each See also:side of the mouth. But it varies much in form and scaling, and some most aberrant varieties have been fixed by artificial selection, the See also:principal being the See also:king-carp or See also:mirror-carp, in which the scales are enlarged and reduced in number, forming more or less See also:regular See also:longitudinal series on the sides, and the See also:leather-carp, in which the scales have all but disappeared, the fish being covered with a thick, leathery skin. Deformed examples are not of rare occurrence. Although partly feeding on See also:worms and other small forms of See also:animal See also:life, the carp is principally a vegetarian, and the great development of its pharyngeal apparatus renders it particularly adapted to a graminivorous regime. The See also:longevity of the fish has probably been much exaggerated, and,the statements of carp of 200 years living in the ponds of See also:Pont-Chartrain and other places in See also:France and elsewhere do not See also:rest on satisfactory See also:evidence. A See also:close ally of the carp is the Crucian carp, Cyprinus carassius, chiefly distinguished 'by the See also:absence of barbels. It inhabits Europe and northern and temperate Asia, and is doubtfully indigenous to Great See also:Britain.

It is a small fish, rarely exceeding a length of 8 or 9 in. It has many varieties. One of these, remarkable for its very See also:

short, thick See also:head and deep See also:body, is the so-called Prussian carp, C. gibelio, often imported into See also:English ponds, whilst the best known is the goldfish (q.v.), C. auratus, first produced in China. (G. A.

End of Article: CARP

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