Gibel Carp

The Gibel Carp - otherwise known as Prussian Carp - is a fish of the Cyprininae subdivision of the cyprinid family. It is a valuable game fish. It occurs in numerous fresh water bodies of Europe, in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, in lakes on floodplains of Siberian rivers (up to the Kolyma River inclusively), in the Amur River basin, in rivers of the Russian Far East, in lakes on Sakhalin, in water bodies of China and Korea. This species was being distributed by humans from olden times and thus was introduced even to North America, Thailand and India. Gibel carp prefers flowing water. It can live in big clean rivers and lakes as well as in overgrown ponds, marshes and ditches. Usually it doesn’t migrate, remaining in the same area. It can survive in low oxygenated water, and can also withstand a period, when the water body is completely frozen or dried out, without any damage to its vital functions, by burying itself into silt. Gibel carp’s favorite food includes insect larvae, plankton and simple algae. Gibel carp is normally smaller than crucian carp, it has bigger scales and a high and slightly flattened (but not very flat) body. Its back is dark, flanks are silvery, there is a black pellicle on its abdomen. Gibel carp’s dorsal fin is long and prickly. There are prickles in its anal fin too. Unlike common carp, it has no barbels. It has one row of pharyngeal teeth. Large specimens reach a length of 40 cm and a weight of about 1.5 to 2 kg.