''Cyprinus'' is the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of typical carps in family Cyprinidae. Most species in the genus are of East Asia origin with only the common carp (''C. carpio'') in Western Asia and Europe; this invasive species has also been introduced to many other regions around the world. ''Cyprinus'' are closely related to some more

barb Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * Barb, ...

-like genera, such as ''

Cyclocheilichthys ''Cyclocheilichthys'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae containing approximately eight valid species. They are native to freshwater habitats in Southeast Asia and China. Two additional species are alternately placed in the g ...

'' and ''

Barbonymus ''Barbonymus'' is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae, containing some barb species. The genus was only established in 1999, with the tinfoil barb (''B. schwanenfeldii'') as type species; thus, these fish are sometimes collectively ...

'' (tinfoils). The crucian carps (''

Carassius ''Carassius ''is a genus in the ray-finned fish family Cyprinidae. Most species in this genus are commonly known as crucian carps, though this term often specifically refers to '' C. carassius''. The most well known is the goldfish (''C. auratus ...

'') of western

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

, which include the

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have bec ...

(''C. auratus''), are apparently not as closely related. This genus's most widespread and well-known member is the common carp (''C. carpio'')

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. Although traditionally considered a single species, recent authorities have split the European and West Asian populations from the East Asian, with the latter named '' C. rubrofuscus'' ( syn. ''C. carpio haematopterus''). Members of the species complex are famed as a

food fish Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ing ...

and have been widely traded and introduced since antiquity, but in certain areas has multiplied inordinately and become a pest. In its long use it has been

domesticated Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...

, and a number of breeds have been developed for food and other purposes. The

koi or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' ke ...

(from

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

''nishikigoi'', 錦鯉) are well-known carp breeds,

selectively bred Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

for being enjoyed by spectators from above. Strictly speaking, ''koi'' is simply the Japanese name of the East Asian carp. The other

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of typical carp are generally found in more restricted areas of eastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, centered on the

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

region. In some cases, they are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to a single

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, most notably

Lake Erhai Erhai or Er Lake (), is an alpine fault lake in Yunnan province, China. Erhai was also known as Yeyuze () or Kunming Lake () in ancient times. Etymology The character "洱" (er) does not have the same meaning as ear (耳). During the Han to Tan ...

, as well as

Lake Dian Dianchi Lake (), also known as Lake Dian and Kunming Lake (), is a large lake located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau close to Kunming, Yunnan, China. Its nickname is the "Sparkling Pearl Embedded in a Highland" () and it was the model for the Ku ...

Fuxian Lake Fuxian Lake () stretches out through Chengjiang, Jiangchuan and Huaning Counties in Yunnan Province, spanning an area of 212 square kilometers. The lake is ranked third-largest in Yunnan, after Dian Lake and Erhai Lake. Also the deepest lake ...

, Lake Jilu, Lake Qilihu, Lake Xingyun and Lake Yi-Lung, which are all in Yunnan proper. Several of these species are seriously threatened and five are possibly already extinct: '' C. yilongensis'' (Lake Yi-Lung), '' C. yunnanensis'' (Lake Qilihu), '' C. daliensis'' (Lake Erhai), '' C. megalophthalmus'' (Lake Erhai) and '' C. fuxianensis'' (Fuxian Lake).Wang, Wang, Li, Du, Yang, Lassoie, and Hassan (2013). ''Six decades of changes in vascular hydrophyte and fish species in three plateau lakes in Yunnan, China.'' Biodivers. Conserv. 22: 3197–3221. doi: 10.1007/s10531-013-0579-0

Species

The following species are currently recognized in the genus. * '' Cyprinus acutidorsalis'' H. L. Chen & H. Q. Huang, 1977 * '' Cyprinus barbatus'' H. L. Chen & H. Q. Huang, 1977 * ''

Cyprinus carpio The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758

* '' Cyprinus chilia'' H. W. Wu, G. R. Yang, P. Q. Yue & H. J. Huang, 1963 * '' Cyprinus dai'' ( V. H. Nguyễn & L. H. Doan, 1969) * '' Cyprinus daliensis'' H. L. Chen & H. Q. Huang, 1977 * '' Cyprinus exophthalmus'' Đ. Y. Mai, 1978 * '' Cyprinus fuxianensis'' Yang et al., 1977 * '' Cyprinus hieni'' T. T. Nguyen & A. T. Ho, 2003 * '' Cyprinus hyperdorsalis'' V. H. Nguyễn, 1991 * '' Cyprinus ilishaestomus'' H. L. Chen & H. Q. Huang, 1977 * '' Cyprinus intha'' Annandale, 1918 * ''

Cyprinus longipectoralis ''Cyprinus longipectoralis'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Cyprinus''. It is endemic to Lake Erhai in Dali, Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province s ...

'' H. L. Chen & H. Q. Huang, 1977 * '' Cyprinus longzhouensis'' Y. J. Yang & H. Q. Huang, 1977 * '' Cyprinus megalophthalmus'' H. W. Wu et al., 1963 * '' Cyprinus melanes'' ( Đ. Y. Mai, 1978) * '' Cyprinus micristius''

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1906 * '' Cyprinus multitaeniatus'' Pellegrin & Chevey, 1936 * ''

Cyprinus pellegrini ''Cyprinus pellegrini'' is a species of cyprinid fish in the genus ''Cyprinus'' that is endemic to Yunnan, China. It is found in Xingyun Lake. See also * List of endangered and protected species of China The endangered species of China may i ...

'' T. L. Tchang, 1933 * '' Cyprinus qionghaiensis'' C. H. Liu, 1981 * '' Cyprinus quidatensis'' T. T. Nguyen, V. T. Le, T. B. Le & X. K. Nguyễn, 1999 * ''

Cyprinus rubrofuscus ''Cyprinus rubrofuscus'', the Amur carp, is a species of cyprinid fish, and is the wild form of the well-known koi. It is widespread in the fresh waters of eastern Asia, native to China, Vietnam and Laos from the Amur to Red River basins, and ...

'' Lacépède, 1803 Cyprinus rubrofuscus Bleeker

* †''

Cyprinus yilongensis ''Cyprinus yilongensis'' is an extinct species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It was found only in Yilong Lake, Yunnan, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the wor ...

'' Yang et al., 1977 * '' Cyprinus yunnanensis'' T. L. Tchang, 1933

Fossil species

* †'' Cyprinus priscus'' von Meyer (fossil species from Miocene Germany)

Footnotes

References

* (2007): Evolutionary origin of Lake Tana's (Ethiopia) small ''Barbus'' species: indications of rapid ecological divergence and speciation. '' Anim. Biol.'' 57(1): 39-48. (HTML abstract) {{Taxonbar, from=Q134653 Cyprininae Carp Fauna of Yunnan Extant Miocene first appearances Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Freshwater fish genera