''Cirrhinus molitorella'' (mud carp or dace) is a species of

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

in the genus '' Cirrhinus'' found mainly in southern China and

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 ...

History

The mud carp is a native Asian freshwater fish with a broad distribution from the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

to the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

deltas, inhabiting lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Mud carp cultivation was introduced to China during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

(618–907 AD) as a substitute for common carp, as the common carp was forbidden to fish due to a ban. Chinese aquaculture farmers adapted by raising mud carp, which were bottom feeders, in polyculture with top-feeding

grass carp The grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella'') is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russi ...

, while

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 ...

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, ...

lived and fed in the middle depths.

Habitat

Mud carp is typically a subtropical fish. The mud carp is found in the mud and

and

delta, as well as bodies of freshwater along these two rivers. In China's

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

and Guangxi

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy� ...

, mud carp makes up about 30% of the freshwater fish population. The fish has been introduced to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, Japan,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. Within China the fish is raised on fish farms.

Dispersion

The mud carp is native to

Southern China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

and parts of Mainland Southeast Asia. It is present in major river systems such as the

, Red River (China/Vietnam),

, and Chao Phraya River.

Diet

Mud carp is an omnivore and mainly consumes water plants or insects. Farm raised carp are fed pellets.

Culinary Use

Due to low cost of production, the fish is mainly consumed by the poor and locally consumed; it is mostly sold live and eaten fresh, but can be dried and salted. Increase of hunting has threatened the number of mud carp. The fish is sometimes canned (typically as fried dace with salted black beans) or processed as fish cakes, fish balls or dumplings. They can be found for retail sale within China and throughout the Chinese diaspora. Canned dace from China has periodically been found to carry traces of

malachite green Malachite green is an organic compound that is used as a dyestuff and controversially as an antimicrobial in aquaculture. Malachite green is traditionally used as a dye for materials such as silk, leather, and paper. Despite its name the dye is ...

, a carcinogenic antimicrobial banned for use in food.

References

Bibliography

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External links

FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department Cirrhinus molitorella
Carp molitorella Freshwater fish of China Fish of East Asia Fish of Thailand Taxa named by Achille Valenciennes Fish described in 1844 {{Labeoninae-stub