Editing Common carp (section)

==Physiology and life history==
[[File:DutchWildCarpCyprinusCarpio 2857x1356.JPG|thumb|300px|Dutch wild carp]]
The carp has a robust build, with a dark gold sheen that is most prominent on its head. Its body is adorned with large, conspicuous scales that are very shiny. It has large pectoral [[Fish fin|fins]] and a tapering dorsal fin running down the last two-thirds of its body, getting progressively higher as it nears the carp's head. Its caudal and anal fins may either be a dark bronze or washed with a rubbery orange hue. Two or three spines are on the anal fin,<ref name=fishbase/> the first being serrated,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/fish-facts.aspx?fishname=Common+Carp|title=Maryland Fish Facts: Common Carp|access-date=27 July 2024|website=Maryland Department of Natural Resources}}</ref> and the dorsal fin has three or four anterior spines,<ref name=fishbase/> the first of which is also serrated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/affris/species-profiles/common-carp/common-carp-home/en/|title=Common carp - ''Cyprinus carpio''|website=Aquaculture Feed and Fertilizer Resources Information System|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|access-date=27 July 2024|year=2024}}</ref> The mouth of the carp is downward-turned, with two pairs of [[Barbel (anatomy)|barbels]], one pair at the corners of the upper lip, and the other on the lower.<ref name=faohabits>{{cite web|url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/affris/species-profiles/common-carp/natural-food-and-feeding-habits/en/|title=Common carp - Natural food and feeding habits|website=Aquaculture Feed and Fertilizer Resources Information System|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|access-date=27 July 2024|year=2024}}</ref> Wild common carp are typically slimmer than domesticated forms, with body length about four times body height, red flesh, and a forward-protruding mouth. Common carp can grow to very large sizes if given adequate space and nutrients. Their average growth rate by weight is about half the growth rate of domesticated carp.<ref name=EMMERIK>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sportvisserijnederland.nl/include/downloadfile.asp?id=16|author=Wilt, R.S. de|author2=Emmerik W.A.M.|title=Kennisdocument Karper Sportvisserij Nederland|date=2008-01-31|access-date=December 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103225421/http://www.sportvisserijnederland.nl/include/downloadfile.asp?id=16|archive-date=2012-01-03|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=SMUL>{{Cite web|url=http://www.smul.sachsen.de/lfl/publikationen/download/2859_2.pdf|author1=Füllner G.|author2=Pfeifer M.|author3=Langner N.|title=Karpfenteichwirtschaft|publisher=Sächsische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft|access-date=December 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415014605/http://www.smul.sachsen.de/lfl/publikationen/download/2859_2.pdf|archive-date=2012-04-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> They do not reach the lengths and weights of domesticated carp, which (range, 3.2–4.8 times)<ref name=fishbase/> can grow to a maximum length of {{convert|120|cm}}, a maximum weight of over {{convert|40|kg}}.<ref name="fishbase" /> The longest-lived common carp documented was of wild-origin (in non-native habitat of North America), and was 64 years of age.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dauphinais |first1=Justine D. |last2=Miller |first2=Loren M. |last3=Swanson |first3=Reid G. |last4=Sorensen |first4=Peter W. |date=2018-08-01 |title=Source–sink dynamics explain the distribution and persistence of an invasive population of common carp across a model Midwestern watershed |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-018-1670-y |journal=Biological Invasions |language=en |volume=20 |issue=8 |pages=1961–1976 |doi=10.1007/s10530-018-1670-y |bibcode=2018BiInv..20.1961D |s2cid=254290935 |issn=1573-1464|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The largest recorded carp, caught by British angler, Colin Smith, in 2013 at Etang La Saussaie Fishery, France, weighed {{convert|45.59|kg}}.<!-- repeat The wild, non-domesticated forms tend to be much less stocky at around 20%–33% the maximum size.--> The average size of the common carp is around {{Convert|40|-|80|cm|abbr=in}} and {{Convert|2|-|14|kg|abbr=on}}.{{Citation needed span|text=|date=January 2020|reason=}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nyaboke Aera |first1=Callen |last2=E Migiro |first2=Kembenya |date=September 2014 |title=LENGTH-WEIGHT RELATIONSHIP AND CONDITION FACTOR OF COMMON CARP, CYPRINUS CARPIO IN LAKE NAIVASHA, KENYA |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265850051 |journal=International Journal of Current Research |volume=6 |issue=9 |pages=8286–8292 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref>
[[File:Muzeum Ewolucji PAN - szkielet karpia (Common carp, Cyprinus carpio).JPG|thumb|300px|The [[skeleton]] of a European carp]]
[[File:Common carp x-ray.jpg|thumb|300px|European carp [[x-ray]]]]

===Habitat===
Although tolerant of most conditions, common carp prefer large bodies of slow or standing water and soft, vegetative sediments. As schooling fish, they prefer to be in groups of five or more. They naturally live in [[temperate]] climates in [[Fresh water|fresh]] or slightly [[brackish]] water with a [[pH]] of 6.5–9.0 and salinity up to about 0.5%,<ref name=fao>[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] Fisheries & Aquaculture: [http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Cyprinus_carpio/en Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme – ''Cyprinus carpio'']</ref> and temperatures of {{convert|3|to(-)|35|C|F|abbr=on}}.<ref name=fishbase/> The ideal temperature is {{convert|23|to(-)|30|C|F|abbr=on}}, with spawning beginning at {{convert|17|to(-)|18|C|F|abbr=on}}; they easily survive winter in a frozen-over pond, as long as some free water remains below the ice.<ref name=fao/> Carp are able to tolerate water with very low oxygen levels, by gulping air at the surface.<ref name=arkive/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://badangling.com/coarse-fish-species/carp/|title=Carp|work=BadAngling|access-date=2018-07-06|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Diet===
Common carp are [[omnivorous]]. They can eat a herbivorous diet of aquatic plants, plant tubers, and seeds, but prefer to scavenge the bottom for [[insect]]s, [[crustacean]]s (including [[zooplankton]] and [[crawfish]]), [[mollusc]]s, [[benthic]] [[worm]]s, [[fish]] [[egg]]s, and fish remains.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Saikia |first1=S. K. |last2=Das |first2=D. N. |date=July 2009 |title=Feeding ecology of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in a rice–fish culture system of the Apatani plateau (Arunachal Pradesh, India) |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10452-008-9174-y |journal=Aquatic Ecology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=559–568 |doi=10.1007/s10452-008-9174-y |bibcode=2009AqEco..43..559S |issn=1386-2588|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Cyprinus_carpio/ | title=Cyprinus carpio | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> Common carp feed throughout the day, with the most intensive feeding at night and around sunrise.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Žák|first=Jakub|date=2021-11-01|title=Diel pattern in common carp landings from angling competitions corresponds to their assumed foraging activity|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783621002149|journal=Fisheries Research|language=en|volume=243|pages=106086|doi=10.1016/j.fishres.2021.106086|bibcode=2021FishR.24306086Z |issn=0165-7836|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Feeding mechanisms===
Common carp are benthic feeders and root in sediment for food items. Their barbels may help to feel for food embedded in the sediment, like plant tubers or annelids.<ref name=faohabits/> Carp pick up sediment by generating suction and mouth the content to identify and select food items by taste and size. Gill rakers form a branchial sieve that may aid in food separation, but the carp is also able to clamp down on food items it detects using a muscular palatal pad and inferior postlingual organ. The sediment is passed back and forth between the mouth and pharynx repeatedly as food is found. The carp may end up spitting out sediment,<ref name=sibbing1988>{{cite journal|last=Sibbing|first=Ferdinand A.|title=Specializations and limitations in the utilization of food resources by the carp, ''Cyprinus carpio'': a study of oral food processing|journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes|volume=22|pages=161–178|issue=3|year=1988|doi=10.1007/BF00005379|bibcode=1988EnvBF..22..161S }}</ref> which contributes to water turbidity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/common-carp|title=Field Guide: Common Carp ''Cyprinus carpio''|website=Chesapeake Bay Program|access-date=27 July 2024|year=2024}}</ref>

While common carp have no oral teeth, 10 [[pharyngeal teeth]] are used for crushing or grinding food.<ref name=sibbing1988/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Sibbing|first=Ferdinand A.|title=Pharyngeal mastication and food transport in the carp (''Cyprinus carpio'' L.): A cineradiographic and electromyographic study|journal=Journal of Morphology|volume=172|issue=2|year=1982|pages=223–258|doi=10.1002/jmor.1051720208|pmid=30096970 }}</ref> The carp has no stomach,<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Sibbing|first=F.A.|title=Food handling and mastication in the carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)|degree=PhD|institution=Landbouwhogeschool, Wageningen University|location=Wageningen|year=1984|url=https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/food-handling-and-mastication-in-the-carp-cyprinus-carpio-l|access-date=27 July 2024}}</ref> and the intestinal length can vary based partially on dietary composition in early life.<ref name=faohabits/>

===Reproduction===
An egg-layer, a typical adult female can lay 300,000 eggs in a single [[Spawn (biology)|spawn]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.carp-fishing.org/ |title=Carp Fishing for carp fishing information |publisher=Carp-fishing.org |access-date=2011-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221191050/http://www.carp-fishing.org/ |archive-date=2017-02-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Although carp typically spawn in the spring, in response to rising water temperatures and rainfall, carp can spawn multiple times in a season. In commercial operations, spawning is often stimulated using a process called hypophysation, where [[Freeze drying|lyophilized]] pituitary extract is injected into the fish. The pituitary extract contains gonadotropic hormones, which stimulate gonad maturation and sex steroid production, ultimately promoting reproduction.{{Cn|date=April 2021}}

===Predation===
A single carp can lay over a million eggs in a year.<ref name=arkive/> Eggs and fry often fall victim to bacteria, fungi, and the vast array of tiny predators in the pond environment. Carp that survive to the juvenile stage are preyed upon by other fish such as the [[northern pike]] and [[largemouth bass]], and several [[bird]]s (including [[Great cormorant|cormorants]], [[Grey heron|herons]], [[goosander]]s, and [[osprey]]s)<ref>Cramp, S. (ed.). ''The Birds of the Western Palearctic'' volumes 1 (1977) & 2 (1980). OUP.</ref> and [[mammal]]s (including [[European otter|otter]]<ref name="Mamm_2000">{{cite journal|doi=10.1515/mamm.2000.64.3.287 |title=Selective predation by otters ''Lutra lutra'' on common carp ''Cyprinus carpio'' at farmed fisheries |date=2000 |last1=Kloskowski |first1=J. |journal=Mamm |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=287–294}}</ref> and mink<ref name="Poole_1976">{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/J.1469-7998.1976.TB02277.X |title=Underwater predatory behaviour of the American mink ''(Mustela vison)'' |date=1976 |last1=Poole |first1=Trevor B. |last2=Dunstone |first2=Nigel |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=178 |issue=3 |pages=395–412 }}</ref>).

===Salinity=== 
Common carp are quite salt tolerant compared to other types of freshwater fish, research studies showed that they can withstand salinity of at least 12 g/L (12 ppt).