Ixxvi REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The bright, red color of this beautiful fish is not found in the orig- 

 inal wild species, but is a character developed in domestication, and 

 perpetuated in the progeny by breeding in and in, or at any rate by selec- 

 tion of those individuals possessing the character in a superior degree. 

 This process continued through many generations develops a tenacious 

 tendency in all to reproduce the character, and a variety is established. 



14. — The carp. 



Sufficient attention has not been paid in the United States to the in- 

 troduction of the European carp as a food- fish, and yet it is quite safe 

 to say that there is no other species that promises so great a return in 

 limited waters. It has the pre-eminent advantage over such fish as the 

 black bass, trout, grayling, &c., that it is a vegetable feeder, and, al- 

 though not disdaining animal matters, can thrive very well upon aquatic 

 vegetation alone. On this account it can be kept in tanks, small ponds, 

 &c., and a very much larger weight obtained, without expense, than in 

 the case of the other kinds indicated. 



It is on this account that its culture has been continued for centuries. 

 It is also a mistake to compare the flesh with that of the ordinary 

 Cyprimdw of the United States, such as suckers, chubs, and the like, 

 the flesh of the genuine carp {Gi/prinus carpio) being firm, flaky, and in 

 some varieties almost equal to the European trout. 



Mr. Hessel imforms me that there is the greatest imaginable difference 

 in the taste of the so-called carp in the European ponds, and that a 

 species very closely allied to the c^x\i {Gyprmus carassius) differs from it 

 in the greater abundance of bones and its muddy flavor. What he con- 

 siders as a hjbrid between the two described as G. Icollari, is in very many 

 parts of Europe the representative of the carp, being frequently found 

 in Germany, Holland, and Belgium under this name. 



Among the estimable varieties of the true carp, Mr. Hessel specifies 

 as the best the king-carp, or Gyprimis rex cyprinorum. This has the 

 peculiarity of being almost destitute of scales, only a few being at- 

 tached here and there to the skin. There are also, according to this emi- 

 nent pisciculturist, varieties of carp in which the generative apparatus 

 seems to be atrophied so as to render them incapable of reproduction. 

 These are f )und in various regions on the Upper Ehine, on the Danube, 

 on the Ehine, and the Po, and are very much sought after, bringing 

 three times the price of other fish ; indeed, as already remarked, they 

 are considered equal to the trout. Mr. Hessel professes to be ac- 

 quainted with a method of producing this sterility on a large scale and 

 with certainty. Another race equally eligible is the one entirely desti- 

 tute of scale, {Gyprimis miclus, vel alejtidotm,) in which the skin is soft 

 as the finest velvet, requiring no scaling, and when cooked adding 

 greatly to the savor of the fish. The constant form of this only occurs 

 in certain lakes in eastern Europe. Neither of these varieties is known 

 in England. 



