Principles of Genetics and Breeding

14.1.8. Chinese carps

Carps, including silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), mud carp (Cirrhina molitorella), and black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), represents most of the fish stocked into Chinese aquaculture.

Traditionally, fry from natural spawns, trapped in rivers, were the only source of these fish.

Induced spawning in captivity was fist carried out on a commercial scale in the middle of the present century. Some of the Chinese carps, particularly silver carp, bighead carp, and grass carp have been introduced to other countries, e.g., Eastern Europe, U.S., and Israel, where stocks are maintained by induced spawning.

The generation interval differs in various Chinese carps and under different climatic conditions ranging from a minimum of 3 to 4 years for silver carp to at least 7 years for black carp.

Presumably, a few generations of captive spawning have been carried out in several locations, followed by culture in captive environments. By definition this is the beginning of the domestication process.