''Hypophthalmichthys'' is a genus of large
cyprinid
Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
consisting of three species. The name comes from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
ὑπό, (''hypó'') "below"; ὀφθαλμός (''ophthalmós''), "eye"; ἰχθῦς (''ichthŷs''), "fish", thus "fish with eyes below", referring to the fact that the fish has its eyes below the mouth line. Members of this genus are native to fresh water in East Asia, ranging from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
to
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, but have been widely
introduced outside their native range, where often considered
invasive.
The genus is also known as bighead
carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
, though that term is also used for individual species, particularly ''
Hypophthalmichthys nobilis
The bighead carp (''Hypophthalmichthys nobilis'') is a species of cyprinid freshwater fish native to East Asia, and is one of several Asian carps introduced into North America. It is one of the most intensively exploited fishes in fish farming, ...
''. The Russian language has a special word for the genus - tolstolób, "thick forehead".
Species
The three currently recognized species in the genus are:
* ''H. harmandi''
Sauvage, 1884 (
largescale silver carp
The largescale silver carp (''Hypophthalmichthys harmandi'') is a freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It is native to Hainan and Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., ...
)
* ''H. molitrix''
(Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
, 1844) (
silver carp
The silver carp (''Hypophthalmichthys molitrix'') is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish, a variety of Asian carp native to China and eastern Siberia, from the Amur River drainage in the north to the Xi Jiang River drainage in the south. Alt ...
)
* ''H. nobilis''
( J. Richardson, 1845) (
bighead carp
The bighead carp (''Hypophthalmichthys nobilis'') is a species of cyprinid freshwater fish native to East Asia, and is one of several Asian carps introduced into North America. It is one of the most intensively exploited fishes in fish farming, ...
)
References
Cyprinid fish of Asia
Cyprinidae genera
Carp
{{Cyprinidae-stub