FAMILY CYPRINIDAE 147 



Although carp are not very popular as food fish in this country they 

 have been highly esteemed for centuries in the Old World. In some 

 parts of Europe they are reared and fattened in ponds in a state of semi- 

 domestication. It is not certain when carp reached Europe, but they 

 were introduced into England just before 1490. Carp were first intro- 

 duced into the United States in 1872 by J. A. Poppe and planted in 

 California. In 1877 the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fish- 

 eries introduced carp which were at first maintained in ponds at 

 Washington, D.C. Soon after, they were planted in the Mississippi 

 drainage. The date of the introduction of carp into Minnesota waters 

 was about March 17, 1883, but they came also by way of the Missis- 

 sippi River from the waters below. They have now become so widely 

 distributed over the southern part of the state that there is hardly a 

 lake connected in any manner with the Mississippi, Minnesota, or Des 

 Moines rivers or their tributaries that is not stocked with myriads of 

 them. So far they appear to have been unable to ascend beyond the 

 dam at Little Falls on the Mississippi or Taylors Falls on the St. Croix, 

 but it is feared they will eventually do so or that they will be acci- 

 dentally introduced by some careless angler, dumping his minnow 

 pail after a day's fishing. Carp are abundant in most shallow lakes and 

 sluggish rivers in the central states. 



The carp spawn in late April or in May, depending on the tempera- 

 ture of the water. They enter shallow bays or pass up tributary streams 

 to shallow headwaters in vast numbers. The females attended by the 

 males crowd into water so shallow that their backs are entirely ex- 

 posed. There they spawn with a great deal of splashing and commo- 

 tion. The act is sometimes called "rolling." 



Carp are among our most prolific fishes, producing over 2,000,000 

 eggs each in females weighing 15 to 20 pounds. The eggs hatch in 10 to 

 20 days, depending on the temperature. If food is abundant the young 

 may reach a length of 8 inches or even more in one year. They grow 

 more rapidly than most native fishes. 



Carp are omnivorous feeders, eating some animal matter, much plant 

 material, and mud. They root up the bottoms, overturning and destroy- 

 ing the vegetation. If sufficiently abundant they may render the water 

 turbid and the bottom unfit for the' feeding and spawning of native 

 game fishes, as they have done in many shallow lakes in Minnesota. 



Carp will often leap and splash on the surface of the water, apparently 

 playing. They are exceedingly wary and can be seined only with great 

 care. They will bite on hooks baited with doughballs or with corn. Some- 

 times a weighted sack of green corn is used to lure them to the bait. 



GENUS Carasshis Nilsson 



This genus is native to Europe and Asia, but one eastern Asiatic 

 species has been widely introduced elsewhere. 



