Black carp

Black carp
Adult
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cypriniformes
Suborder:	Cyprinoidei
Family:	Xenocyprididae
Genus:	Mylopharyngodon
Species:	M. piceus
Binomial name
Mylopharyngodon piceus (J. Richardson, 1846)
Synonyms[2]
Leuciscus piceus J. Richardson, 1846 Leuciscus aethiops Basilewsky, 1855 Myloleuciscus aethiops (Basilewsky, 1855) Myloleucus aethiops (Basilewsky, 1855) Mylopharyngodon aethiops (Basilewsky, 1855) Leuciscus dubius Bleeker, 1864 Barbus tonkinensis Sauvage, 1884 Myloleuciscus atripinnis Garman, 1912 Leucisculus fuscus Ōshima, 1920

The black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) or Chinese black roach is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Xenocyprididae, the East Asian minnows or sharpbellies.^[2] The black carp is the sole extant species of the genus Mylopharyngodon. It is native to lakes and rivers in East Asia, ranging from the Amur Basin across China to Vietnam.^[4] One of the largest cyprinids in the world, the black carp has a typical length of 60–120 cm (23.5–47 in), though it can reach up to 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) in length and 109 kg (240 lb) in weight.^[4] It is carnivorous and generally feeds on invertebrates such as snails, clams and mussels.

Black carp, together with bighead carp, silver carp, and grass carp, make up the culturally important "four famous domestic fishes" used in polyculture in China for over a thousand years. It has also been introduced in the United States as one of the invasive "Asian carps", though it is not as widely distributed worldwide as the other three.

In China, black carp is widely cultivated for food and Chinese medicine, being one of the most highly esteemed and expensive domestic food fish,^[5] and partly because of its diet and limited food supply, is the most scarce and expensive in the marketplace among the "four famous domestic fishes".^[6]