SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 105 



Specimens of this fish appearing as no. 12 on the fish register of the U. S. 

 National Museum were collected at Salem, in Forsyth County, by J. T. Lineback, 

 in 1856, and were described by Dr. Girard as a new species under the name 

 Ceratichthys leptocephalus. 



Genus CYPRINUS Linnaeus. Carps. 



Large fresh-water fishes of Asia, with rather stout compressed body; mod- 

 erate sized mouth, with thick, fleshy lips; broad molar pharyngeal teeth in several 

 series; 2 barbels on each side of the maxillary; large cycloid scales; complete 

 lateral line; large, thick-walled air-bladder; long dorsal fin, with a stout spinous 

 anterior ray; short anal fin, the first ray spinous; and large, bilobed caudal fin. 

 One species introduced into various parts of the world, and extensively cultivated. 

 {Cyprinus, ancient name for the carp.) 



96. CYPRINUS CARPIO Linnaeus. 

 "Carp"; "German Carp"; Asiatic Carp. 



Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, ed. x, 1758b. 320. Smith, 18936. pi. xlvii, 2 figs. Smith, 1893a, 190, 

 199; Pasquotank and Roanoke rivers. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 201. 



DiAGNOSLS. — Depth contained about 3.5 times in length; head .25 length; snout blunt, .33 

 length of head; eye small, .15 length of head; mouth horizontal, the angle extending .5 distance 

 between end of snout and anterior margin of eye; a short barbel at corner of mouth and a 

 shorter one about middle of maxillary; lips full, sucker-like; teeth 1,1,3 — 3,1,1, with broad 

 grinding surface; scales in lengthwise series 35 to 40, in transverse series 10 to 12, the nearly 

 straight lateral line running about midway between dorsal and ventral profiles; alimentary 

 canal long, pyloric appendages absent; air-bladder large, thick, with transverse constriction; 

 dorsal fin beginning over ventrals, elevated anteriorly, the base .5 length of trunk, the rays 19 

 to 23 exclusive of rudiments, the first major ray being a stout spine with its posterior surface 

 serrated; anal rays 6 or 7 besides rudiments, the anterior a serrated spine; caudal fin broad, 

 deeply notched. Color: variable but usually dull, dark green, darker above and lighter below; 

 under parts sometimes yellow, as are also cheeks, lips, lower side of head, and iris; fins in 

 genera' like adjacent parts of body, {carpio, carp.) 



Although the introduction of the carp into the United States from Europe 

 was as recent as 1877, the species quickly became firmly established and is now 

 the most generally distributed fish in this country.* The imported specimens 

 whose progeny now exist in probably every state and territory (except Alaska) 

 were brought over by the United States Fish Commission from Germany, where, 

 as in other parts of Central Europe, the carp had been cultivated since the thir- 

 teenth century. 



Long domestication and cultivation have resulted in the production of a 

 number of races or varieties differing more or less strikingly from the typical form. 

 Among thoise which are met with in the United States are (1) the scale carp, 

 which differs the least from the original Asiatic type and is characterized by being 

 uniformly covered with regularly arranged scales; (2) the mirror carp, with 



*An admirable review of the carp and the various questions connected with its acclimatization appears 

 in the Report of the Bureau of Fisheries for 1904 under the title "The German Carp in the United States," by 

 Leon J. Cole. 



