The Black Carp Seed is a species of cyprinid fish, and is the sole species of the genus Mylopharyngodon. It is also known by some other names such as black Chinese roach, snail carp, Chinese roach, black amur and Chinese black carp. It is native to lakes and rivers in East Asia, ranging from the Amur Basin, through China to Vietnam. The fish is widely cultivated for food and also for Chinese medicine.
The Black Carp fish is not as widely distributed as many other carp fish species. It is the most highly esteemed and expensive foodfish in China. Because of it’s diet and limited food supply, it is the most scarce and expensive in the marketplace. Black Carp fish has also introduced into the United States. And it is used in the control of snails in the United States in aquaculture.
Today it is considered to be a serious threat to mollusks native to the United States, many of which are critically endangered. And the Black Carp fish was listed as an ‘injurious species’ in 2004, under the Lacey Act. Read some more information about this fish below.
Black Carp Fish Characteristics:
The Black Carp fish closely resembles the Grass carp fish in appearance. They are similar in overall body shape, size and placement of fins, and both have very large scales. In case of coloration, the Black carps are slightly darker than Grass carps.The Black Carp can reach up to 1.8 meters body length, with an average length between 60 and 120 cm. They can reach up to 35 kg live body weight, with recorded highest body weight of 70 kg
Diet:
The Black Carp fish are generally feed on snails and mussels. The larvae feed on zooplankton, then on ostracods and aquatic insects.
Uses:
The Black Carp fish are mainly cultivated for food. And also used for Chinese medicine
