XXXVI EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Drobriluyk, Brandenburgh, Traugott Mende; Wittengen, Bohemia, 

 Prince Schwarzenburg j Biddabausen, near Brunswick, naked carp 7 

 Prince of Schonnburg-Lippe ; Wiesbaden, common carp, mirror carp, 

 and gold-orfe, nassauiscke Fisberei, Actiengesellscbaft ; Niirnburg, mirror 

 carp; Gunzenbausen, mirror carp; Lusatia, estate of Cottbus Peitzj 

 Upper Silesia, Baron Eotbscbild ; Brickaberg, naked carp ; Heesen, Mr. 

 Bodeman ; Hocbst,* near Frankfort, mirror carp, scaled carp, and gold- 

 orfe ; Oldenburg, bybrid, C. Kollarii Heck., Mr. Wagner. 



Tbis list migbt be multiplied many times. 



Tbe present distribution of tbe carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in Europe 

 may be given as throughout tbe middle latitudes of Europe, extending 

 northward to Northern Germany and southward into Italy. The C. 

 carassius L. has a more northern range into Siberia and Norway, while 

 the variety C. humilis is fouud in Sicily. 



The special advantage to be gained by the possession of the carp is in 

 its general adaptability to all waters, and that it thrives under conditions 

 unfavorable to many species. According to Heckel and Kner, it prefers 

 "water not too rapid and a boggy bottom. 



As a fish for propagation in ponds and other sluggish waters both south 

 and north, it is believed the carp will excel all others. In Northern 

 Silesia, according to Mr. Von dem Borne,t on the estate of Baron von 

 Bothschild, puddles two or three feet deep in the villages are used for 

 raising two-year-old carps for stocking distant waters. From this re- 

 source, a single estate realized what would amount to about $55 per 

 American acre of pond-surface. 



The following is a recapitulation of the good qualities of the carp : 



1. Fecundity and adaptability to the processes of artificial propaga- 

 tion. 



2. Living largely on a vegetable diet. 



3. Hardiness in all stages of growth. 



4. Adaptability to conditions unfavorable to any equally palatable 

 American fish and to very varied climates. 



5. Kapid growth. 



G. Harmlessness in its relations to other fishes. 



7. Ability to populate waters to their greatest extent. 



8. Good table qualities. 



The food-fish indigenous to the United States, which has been the 

 most widely distributed in the smaller ponds and lakes, is the large- 

 mouthed black bass {Micropterus nigricans (Cuv.) Lacep.) This fish is 

 very carnivorous, preying upon almost all species in the same waters. 

 Even the pickerel is said to decrease rapidly when in contact with it. 

 The necessity for fish-food is always a bar to a great increase of numbers 

 among fishes, especially in small bodies of water. Species which feed 



* Carp in ponds at Baltimore, Mel., obtained here by United States Commission 

 Fisheries. 



t Circular No. 1, 1876, of the Deutsche Fisberei- Verein, see translation in appendix. 



