crucian carp ( Carassius) is a widespread genus of fish, which belongs to the class of finned fish, order Cyprinidae, family Cyprinidae.
The name of this fish migrated to the Russian language as an adapted transliteration of the Old German word “karas”, which has its roots in the Latin designation of the genus, the etymology of which is unknown.
- Gold fish ( Carassius auratus)
This type of crucian carp is represented by a huge number of subspecies, the number of which has long exceeded three hundred. All of them, with rare exceptions, are intended only for breeding in an aquarium. Representatives of this species differ not only in size, ranging from 2 to 45 cm, color, including all the colors of the rainbow, but also in body shape, which can be elongated, ovoid, or resemble a sphere. In addition, the shape of goldfish varies greatly, as well as the length of the fins and tail, which can be either short or very long, and resemble butterfly wings or a developing veil. Goldfish eyes can be small or large and protruding.
- Japanese crucian carp ( Carassius cuvieri)
lives in the waters of Japan and Taiwan. Wild species of this fish live in Lake Biwa in Japan. The length of the fish reaches 35-40 cm.
Reproduction (spawning) of crucian carp in a pond
Crucian carp become sexually mature only at 4-5 years of age. In the territory of the former USSR countries, the spawning period of crucian carp begins in late spring - early summer, namely in May-June, when the water warms up to a temperature of 17-18 o C. The spawning itself takes place in several stages with breaks of about 10 days. Crucian carp caviar, colored light yellow, due to its stickiness, is firmly attached to underwater parts of vegetation. The quantity of spawned eggs can reach 30,0000 pieces. Depending on the water temperature, the incubation period can last up to 7 days.
If a male crucian carp is absent, the female silver crucian carp has the unique ability to spawn with related members of the family. And although the milk of carp, bream, roach or golden crucian carp cannot achieve full fertilization, they still provoke the development of eggs. As a result of this process, called gynogenesis, only female eggs emerge from the laid eggs.
Breeding crucian carp in a pond or artificial reservoir
Silver crucian carp, despite their modest size, are quite a valuable object for fish farms, and this fish is artificially bred along with carp and carp. In addition, gold and silver crucian carp serve as a desirable hunting trophy for fishermen.
Industrial breeding of crucian carp usually does not present any difficulties. Unlike other fish species, they are able to endure for a long time a serious lack of oxygen in the water, which occurs in the summer heat and severe frosts. They also react poorly to increased acidity.
To breed crucian carp in a pond, the depth of the reservoir must be at least 1.5 - 2 meters to create space for the fish and provide an abundance of green vegetation. Due to the fact that crucian carp is an omnivorous fish, it can be fed not only with worms and larvae, but also with steamed cereals, as well as mixed feed. The basic rule is that the amount of food for crucian carp should not exceed 5% of the total mass of fish living in the reservoir.
Goldfish and common crucian carp kept in aquariums are fed with daphnia, tubifex, bloodworms and earthworms. As a supplement, you can give dry food with a set of essential vitamins and minerals. As an alternative to aquarium vegetation, crucian carp's food includes freshly picked nettle or garden lettuce leaves. You can diversify your diet with hard-cooked rice, buckwheat or pearl barley porridge, previously washed under running water. You should not overfeed aquarium crucian carp, as this can lead to various diseases in pets.
- In order to ensure a comfortable existence for pets, the volume of the aquarium is selected at the rate of 40 liters per fish.
- An artificial reservoir for crucian carp must be equipped with an air compressor to enrich the water with oxygen.
- The bottom of the aquarium should be covered with sand and gravel, on which beneficial bacteria multiply, processing ammonia, which is a by-product of the life of fish and algae.
- You should not immediately introduce goldfish or crucian carp into an aquarium filled with water. It is necessary that a favorable ecosystem be established in it. To achieve this, snails are placed in it and the aquarium is allowed to “mature” for a week.
- It is necessary to strictly monitor the water temperature in the aquarium where crucian carp are kept and keep it at a level of 21 o C to 28 o C.
- You should feed crucian carp only with special food. In addition, it is necessary to remove leftover food to avoid poisoning the ecosystem.
- Regularly, once a week, you need to carry out a partial (up to 30%) change of water in the aquarium where you breed crucian carp.
- For large artificial reservoir volumes, it is necessary to provide additional illumination at the rate of 0.5 W/liter of water.
- Artificial crucian carp breeding began in China around the 7th century AD.
- Goldfish are often used as experimental animals in scientific experiments. For example, they were the first fish to go into space.
- Crucian carp have a highly developed sense of smell, so they are able to detect the finest odors in water at a considerable distance.
- These fish are attracted to strong odors, so fishermen often add garlic, valerian tincture and other strong-smelling substances to the bait.
- The most sensitive organ in crucian carp is the lateral line. Thanks to it, they receive complete information about the presence of prey in the water column, its size, distance to it, as well as the presence of predators.
Crucian carp is a very common fish in our reservoirs and it belongs to the class of ray-finned fish, the order Cyprinidae and the family Cyprinidae. The word “crucian carp” itself has been adapted into Russian from the Old German word karas, the roots of which go to the Latin designation of the genus of this fish - Carassius. The crucian carp is oblong in shape, it has a slightly rounded body, slightly flattened on the sides and covered with smooth scales. The color of crucian carp can have various shades of silver and gold. The maximum length of this fish can reach 60 cm, and its weight can reach up to 5 kg.
Description
Common crucian carp live more than 12 years, but silver crucian carp - 8-9, however, these can also live up to 12 years. The habitat of these fish is quite extensive, as they live in swampy rivers, lakes and adapt well to various artificial reservoirs and ponds. The only place where they are not present is mountain rivers and lakes.
Man has developed economic activity around this fish so much that now crucian carp do not live in any number of countries, so there is no point in even listing them, because there are a lot of them. Under unfavorable conditions, when frost sets in or, conversely, drought, crucian carp can adapt and wait until a better moment, burrowing to a depth of 0.7 m in muddy soil.
What does baby crucian carp eat?
This type of fish is almost omnivorous. Therefore, when studying the question of what crucian carp eat, there should not be any particular difficulties. Only the fry hatched from eggs in its first days uses the filling in the gall sac, which remains after embryonic development, to maintain viability. As they grow up, small fish begin to feed on their own, eating small blue-green algae and daphnia.
To the question of what crucian carp eat, it must be added that already by the age of one month, these fish love bloodworms and larvae of aquatic insects. Adult fish eat a much more varied diet. In water bodies it can find annelids, insect larvae and small crustaceans. To this diet you need to add duckweed, algae, roots and stems of plants.
What does crucian carp eat?
Crucian carp is a delicacy, it senses odorous bait from a fairly large distance in stagnant water, where the smell spreads in all directions, but in the river - only in one direction. Therefore, fishermen use pearl barley, millet, buckwheat porridge, black bread crumb with the addition of fragrant sunflower oil or anise and hemp oil as bait for it. And the more fragrant the bait, the better, so you can use essential oils - mint and lavender.
Crucian carp senses such baits from afar; its sense of smell is highly developed. The fisherman will not need to think much about what the crucian carp eats and what he likes most. However, it is important to know that crucian carp does not like algae such as hornwort, since it contains the substance tannin, and it repels insects and larvae, which the fish loves to feed on. It is best to catch crucian carp early in the morning and in the evening.
Spawning
Crucian carp become adults at the age of four. Spawning of crucian carp begins from late spring to early summer, from May to June. Crucian carp in June, having waited for warm climatic conditions so that the water temperature reaches 17-18 degrees, begins spawning. It takes place in several stages, with breaks lasting ten days. Crucian caviar is light yellow in color. It is very sticky and therefore clings well to underwater vegetation. One fish can lay 30,000 eggs. Again, it all depends on the water temperature. Sometimes the incubation period can last a week.
If there is no male for the female, then she spawns with other representatives of this family. And although the milt of carp, roach, and bream cannot achieve full fertilization, it still provokes the development of eggs. But the caviar will consist only of females. During the spawning period, crucian carp form large schools and spawn on algae.
Every fisherman remembers his biggest trophy ever caught. Naturally, when going on his next fishing trip, he hopes that he will be lucky today, which means that he will certainly bite an even larger crucian carp. Well, it remains to find out what size this fish grows to, as well as which individual caught can be considered a real success.
To catch large crucian carp, you should use different fishing approaches
Which crucian carp is considered a trophy
The most commonly caught crucian carp all over the world is called the “palmfish.” Its weight is 150-300 grams, and its length is about 10-15 cm. Individuals weighing more than 1 kg are very rare. This is explained by the fact that crucian carp has quite a lot of “enemies”. These are fishermen, predatory fish, birds, poachers, poor ecology, etc. Most simply do not have time to grow to a decent size, dying or becoming someone’s catch or prey.
Compared to grass carp or carp, crucian carp grows much more slowly. For example, in order for this fish to reach a length of 25 cm and a weight of about 1 kg, it must take 5-6 years. Whereas the same carp, with a good food supply, gains such weight in one year.
Therefore, this is a very careful and intelligent fish, taught by “life experience.” It has been proven that they see a net or fishing line, in most cases feel the hook and spit out the bait. At the same time, large crucian carp lead an ascetic lifestyle and are always near the same place. In addition, they are rarely tempted by the usual baits - they feed mainly on insects that have fallen into the water and various plankton.
It is the golden crucian carp that reach the largest sizes, which, unfortunately, are becoming less and less in our reservoirs. They grow up to half a meter in length, and their weight can easily exceed 3 kg. The silver subspecies of crucian carp is more hardy and resistant to adverse conditions. True, among them you rarely find an individual weighing more than 2 kg.
What are they, fishing records?
On the Internet you can find a lot of information about how in one country or another in the world it was possible to catch crucian carp of record sizes. Some stories, frankly speaking, are hard to believe. For example, this is a story from the UK that Martin Locky caught a giant crucian carp weighing 42.6 kg on a feeder tackle. Unfortunately, there are no photographs of the fish “giant”.
Witnesses say that a huge fish bit in the middle of the night. Martin himself reacted quite quickly to the bite and began reeling in the rig. The fisherman thought it was a snag on a log or bush. However, the fishing line began to “walk” from side to side. With the help of his friends, Martin managed to pull the incredible trophy ashore.
It is the goldfish that reach the largest sizes.
True, today most fishermen doubt that it was crucian carp, which rarely grows even more than 2 kg. Not to mention fish weighing over 90 pounds. It was probably a trophy carp or carp, which due to some features was similar to its “brother”. In any case, the story of Martin Locky may be either true or outright fiction. Believe it or not - it's up to you.
The confirmed fishing record is a golden crucian carp caught in the Pskov region in the village of Osyno, whose weight was 5.5 kg.
It was caught by local fisherman I.D. Ivanov. This is the largest crucian carp in the world today. By the way, they caught it in a rather large lake, almost 9 km long and up to 10 m deep.
Quite often, large crucian carp is found in Lake Chukhloma (Kostroma region). Here fishermen regularly catch specimens weighing about 2-3 kg, and some claim that they were lucky enough to catch heavier specimens (about 4 kg). If we talk about other countries, the record for Belarus is considered to be the caught golden crucian carp, during weighing of which the scales stopped at 5 kg. The length of such a fish was 50 cm, and the approximate age was 12-13 years.
Each country has its own record holders in size.
As for the largest silver crucian carp, its weight was 2 kg 750 g. Such a handsome man was caught in 1992 in the Minsk region. Of course, there is unconfirmed information about the catching of larger individuals of the silver subspecies. For example, on a river flowing in China and Kazakhstan. According to rumors, large crucian carp weighing up to 5 kg is found here. However, it does not belong to the golden subspecies and is distinguished by large silvery scales.
These are not all “record-breaking crucian carp”. It cannot be ruled out that over the long history of fishing, larger specimens were also caught on the hook. It’s just that some of the fishermen did not advertise this event, some did not attach any importance to the caught crucian carp, trying to catch a more “valuable” fish in the fishing environment - carp or carp. Therefore, we can safely assume that somewhere in some reservoir there lives a crucian carp weighing more than 5.5 kg and sooner or later it will become the prey of a truly lucky fish.
Go for the trophy: where to look for large crucian carp
Now let's move on to the main thing and try to find out in which bodies of water there is a high probability of catching a large crucian carp? Of course, all fishing enthusiasts want to catch a trophy fish that weighs more than 2 kg. However, you need to understand that fish of this size are extremely rare. Therefore, we will set ourselves a more realistic goal – crucian carp weighing 1 kg or more.
Large specimens should be looked for in large bodies of water with a rich food supply
You can’t find it in every body of water. For example, fishing in a small irrigation or village pond is not the best idea. To grow, fish need a large space where it can hide from a predator or go deeper and be protected from unfavorable conditions. Large lakes or deep rivers are most suitable for catching large crucian carp. This is explained by the following features:
Many will be surprised why large crucian carp are more often found where there are perch and pike. It's actually simple. Without predators, this fish of the carp family lives in a pond carefree. Its population increases so much that food becomes scarce and it stops growing. It gets to the point that a five-year-old crucian carp weighs only about 150 grams.
The presence of large individuals in a reservoir often depends on the characteristics of the bottom. If it is sandy and rocky, then there is little underwater vegetation, thanks to which the fish receive an additional food supply. As a result, crucian carp rarely reaches even medium sizes. But lakes with rich aquatic flora are an ideal environment for the active growth of fish.
We must not forget that fishing in large bodies of water is a difficult task. Considering the large area of water, the density of fish per 1 m³ is significantly lower here. This means that through simple arithmetic calculations, it turns out that crucian carp have a greater chance of avoiding a meeting with a fisherman and growing to decent (and maybe even trophy) sizes.
Thus, the ideal reservoir for catching trophy and large crucian carp is a deep-water lake with a muddy bottom, an area of more than 3 km², where predatory fish live in moderate quantities and there is aquatic vegetation, as well as a good food supply.
You can learn about fishing for large crucian carp from the video:
Crucian carp is a commercial fish, a representative of the carp family. It is found only in bodies of water where the current is either minimal or completely absent. Crucian carp are quite tenacious, which is why small specimens are often used as bait when fishing for pike.
Classification
There are several species of this fish in nature:
- Golden crucian carp (also known as common carp). The geography of habitat of this species is quite wide - from the Lena basin to the reservoirs of Central Europe. However, the size of its population is rapidly declining, because very often golden crucian carp is forced out of living space by its silver-colored brother.
- Goldfish. The native habitat of this fish is the Pacific Ocean, along with the reservoirs of the Aral Sea and Siberia. Nowadays, the habitat of this species extends to the reservoirs of Europe.
- Goldfish (aka Chinese crucian carp). This species was bred artificially and today includes quite a few breeds, but it is the goldfish that is most similar to its ancestor, which is the goldfish.
Very often, silver crucian carp lives in the same reservoir with gold crucian carp, which causes the appearance of hybrids of these fish.
Hybrid of gold and silver crucian carp Habitat
The habitat of crucian carp is shallow fresh water bodies, the water in which is either stagnant or has a weak current. This fish loves to swim in the wilds of abundant underwater vegetation at the very bottom, which should be strewn with half-rotted remains of algae - this is where crucian carp find food.
It feeds on vegetation, larvae of various insects, and plankton. However, this does not mean that fish live exclusively at the bottom of the reservoir. The character of crucian carp is quite unpredictable, and its behavior is greatly influenced by climatic conditions, so it can often be found near the surface of the water, where it also feeds on small plants. This usually happens in spring and summer.
Fish... Fishing rod... Equipment...
This device may have a rod made of bamboo, willow or hazel branches. It is also possible to use a spinning rod. When catching small crucian carp, it is permissible to use dry reed stems. The length of the rod directly depends on the location and fishing conditions. In cases where you have to cast far, you will need a long rod, and if fishing is carried out in reed thickets, then you need to choose a short one.
Catching crucian carp vertically does not require the use of a fishing rod. A winter fishing rod equipped with a reel performs well here. Also in this case, a short two-legged fishing rod is used, with a nod and a jig painted in dark colors.
The jig should be small and in the shape of a drop or pellet. The fishing line should be taken with a diameter of about a quarter of a millimeter and a color range limited to yellow, green and brown shades. Unpainted fishing line can scare away fish, so its use is not advisable.
The fishing line for the leash should have a slightly smaller diameter than the main one, but their color scheme should be the same. When you catch a small carp, you can do without a leash. In this case, the rod equipment is limited to a fishing line with a diameter of about ⅕ millimeter.
Plumb fishing involves the use of a fishing line with a diameter of no more than 0.17 millimeters and a fairly sensitive float, which should rise above the water surface, looking out from it by one centimeter. The nature of the position of the float, as well as its behavior, can indicate the location of the hook - whether it lies on the ground or freezes in the water column.
The place for installing the sinker is provided at a distance not exceeding ten centimeters in relation to the hook. However, this figure should not fall below five centimeters. The sinker is attached in such a way that nothing can question the reliability of the fastening, but at the same time it must move freely along the fishing line. This is necessary in cases where the fish bites very poorly. Sluggish bite of crucian carp is usually observed in the heat, as well as at the end of autumn. The size of the hooks depends on what the fisherman is hoping for.
When fishing for large crucian carp, the fishing rod must be equipped taking into account the fact that adult fish are very shy. Therefore, the color of all necessary gear must correspond to the characteristics of the reservoir. This means that the gear used to catch crucian carp should not stand out against the background of those natural elements that fill the environment of the reservoir, as well as its quiet waters.
Catch it, fish of different sizes
Fishing connoisseurs know how to catch crucian carp most effectively. They argue that this should be done at dawn, when the sun has not yet shown its face over the horizon. During these morning hours, the crucian carp bites better. After a short amount of time, the fish begins to lose its activity and bites periodically throughout the day with a tendency to stop.
Catching large crucian carp is most effective at night. In this case, a bottom fishing rod is used. Although such fishing sometimes allows you to catch fish on the surface of the water.
Fishing is not only a 24-hour process, but also year-round. However, don’t be fooled by stories about how to catch crucian carp in winter. Crucian carp loves to sleep in winter, and in this case, even complementary feeding for crucian carp is completely ineffective. Therefore, fishing is postponed until spring. During this time, equipment for crucian carp can be more carefully prepared for spring fishing.
But in warm regions, crucian carp stay awake in winter, so they can be caught from the ice. Silver crucian carp bites quite well in warm winters. Lure for crucian carp attracts not only small individuals, but also large fish, which are usually found in deep places.
Fishing at the beginning of spring also has little to please, since the spring crucian carp, which is just waking up, bites rather weakly. The warmer the spring days, the higher the crucian carp rises from the depths of the water in search of food. Therefore, in the spring, fishing has an increasing productivity. Complementary food for crucian carp, as well as special equipment for crucian carp, will help little in this situation. The beginning of spring is the time when the fish awakens and its activity is still relatively low.
When crucian carp spawning approaches, the fish begins to feed more actively. During this period, feeding for crucian carp is quite effective. Therefore, in the spring, before the spawning of crucian carp begins, it is quite easy to catch it. Absolutely any bait for crucian carp will bring the desired result.
Fishing in the spring is good in those places where crucian carp spawning will soon begin, but already during it, fishing is strictly prohibited and entails legal liability.
In the summer, when there is a lot of natural food in the water column, complementary food for crucian carp to attract fish is completely unnecessary, there is already a lot of it. The warmer the water becomes, the more often crucian carp rise to its upper layers. However, large fish try to stay in the depths even in summer.
When a summer day is characterized by windy weather, the bite of crucian carp will be better in a place where the wind is not so noticeable, because then the food is less mobile. This must be taken into account when using complementary foods for crucian carp.
In addition, if the day is windy, then the float is very unstable, which makes the process somewhat difficult, although crucian carp themselves tend to bite weakly, regardless of whether it is summer or winter, or whether there is complementary food for crucian carp or not.
Also, success in catching crucian carp in summer depends on the weather and atmospheric pressure. On a hot summer day, the fish are practically not interested in complementary foods for crucian carp. It sinks to the bottom, where the water is cooler. Also, catching this fish in summer is difficult where the water is very clean and clear.
In places where there is not enough natural food, feeding crucian carp increases the activity of the fish and fishing can be more successful. However, in this case, mainly small individuals will peck.
Still, it is worth noting that in summer, crucian carp fishing is not even bad, so summer fishing is considered one of the most productive, in terms of seasonality.
When the first autumn days arrive, the crucian carp are still where they lived all summer, but they begin to feed more modestly, which makes them bite less intensely. In this case, fishing will be better if you use crucian bait. Small and medium-sized fish rise to the surface of the water, gathering in small schools.
It would seem that this situation is ideal for fishing, but the fish are very vigilant at this time. Although quite often bait for crucian carp attracts these schools, and the fish bite very well and fishing during this period can also be successful.
The colder the days become, the less often the crucian carp begins to bite, and with the first frosts it goes deeper. Here we can say that the fishing season has come to an end and now fishing will begin only when the snow melts. Although in winter fishing is also possible. In warm regions, the fish is quite active and fishing is effectively carried out from the ice. Crucian carp also do not sleep in those reservoirs where a heating system is used.
We tried to make your “silent hunt” for crucian carp as effective as possible. We hope that the advice from fishing experts that we have collected for you was useful to you. Good catch and have a nice time with your fishing rod!
Crucian carp is the most common freshwater fish in our country. Anyone who has gone fishing with a fishing rod at least once has probably caught several crucian carp. The crucian fish is also well known to culinary experts. Since crucian carp are the most affordable fish, there are many recipes for their preparation. Finally, crucian carp lends itself well to cultivation in pond fish farms.
Crucian fish - species
In the scientific classification, crucian carp are classified as an independent genus, belonging to the family of carp fish. Currently, there are five types of crucian fish:
Although some species of marine fish have the common name sea crucian, this fish has nothing to do with real freshwater crucian carp.
For a long time, the golden crucian carp, also known as the common crucian carp, was considered a typical representative of the crucian family. This species was widespread throughout Europe and northern Asia, where its habitat extended to the Lena River basin. For many centuries, Europeans did not know any other species of crucian carp other than goldfish. However, in the second half of the 20th century, golden crucian carp began to be rapidly replaced by silver crucian carp, which today has become a more typical representative of the genus.
It is believed that the southern border of the golden crucian's distribution reached central France, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Georgia, southern Kazakhstan and northern Altai. In nature, the golden crucian fish was not found in the waters of China, but historical facts show that in the Celestial Empire they knew about this species and even bred it, since it was on the basis of the golden crucian carp that the species of crucian goldfish was bred here about a thousand years ago. However, many sources claim that this species was bred from the silver crucian carp, which is found everywhere in northern China.
Silver crucian carp was originally common in reservoirs belonging to the Amur basin, as well as in some Siberian rivers. In the 1960s, this species began to be artificially dispersed throughout the USSR and Central Europe. Silver crucian carp has taken root well outside its natural range, and today it can also be found in Western Europe, the USA, Canada, India and other regions of the world. In those reservoirs where silver crucian carp found their way, the native fish carp and golden crucian carp were rapidly pushed into the background, and in many places even disappeared completely.
Two Japanese species of crucian carp, as you might guess, were originally distributed only in Japan itself. Moreover, white crucian carp was generally endemic to one body of water - Lake Biwa. Over time, Japanese crucian carp were introduced into some water bodies of the Russian Far East, Korea and China.
As for the goldfish, this species was bred artificially for decorative purposes from the very beginning, and therefore is not found in natural conditions.
All crucian carp have a fairly similar appearance. They have a tall, laterally flattened body with a thick back and narrow belly. There is one low but long fin on the back. The small head ends in a very small mouth, in which the pharyngeal teeth are located in one row.
Crucians have large, smooth scales, the color of which depends not only on the species, but also on the habitat. Golden crucian carp are mainly found in various shades of yellow-gray: from almost mustard to silver with a slight tint of yellow. Moreover, the fins of golden crucian carp will in any case be yellow-brown or reddish in color. In turn, the silver crucian fish has a silver-gray color, sometimes with a greenish tint, but occasionally yellow individuals are found. The fins of silver crucian carp are always gray-black. The Japanese white carp is a lighter version of the silver carp. Well, as for the color of the goldfish, the standard breed is painted in a bright carrot color.
The size of crucian carp directly depends on the size of the reservoir. In small ponds they often do not exceed the size of the palm of an adult, but in rivers, reservoirs, large lakes and ponds, golden crucian carp can gain up to 3 kg with a body length of about 50 cm, and silver crucian carp - up to 2 kg and 40 cm.
Crucian carp, as a fish, forms the basis of the “population” of most standing and flowing water bodies in its habitat. It thrives in both small ponds and swamps and large rivers, including estuaries and freshwater deltas. Moreover, crucian carp prefers muddy, silty places, but it does not like reservoirs with crystal clear water and a rocky bottom. For this reason, it is almost impossible to find in mountain lakes, rivers and streams.
Crucian carp is completely unpretentious to the quality of water, and if the conditions in the reservoir become completely unbearable (a catastrophic drop in oxygen levels, drying out or even complete freezing), it simply buries itself in the bottom silt and hibernates there. Crucian carp can remain in suspended animation for many months, waiting for conditions in the reservoir to improve.
This fish prefers to stay as close to the bottom as possible, or hides in thickets of underwater vegetation. However, with an abundance of insects near the surface of the water, it can rise to the upper water layers. The river fish crucian carp leads a schooling lifestyle, but large individuals often stay solitary.
In small bodies of water, especially in stagnant ones, crucian carp hibernate in order to avoid oxygen starvation. But in rivers and other bodies of water with good water circulation and normal oxygen conditions, fish often remain active all year round.
Crucian carp are omnivorous. The basis of their diet consists of all kinds of insects, small invertebrates living in water, algae and detritus. In turn, the crucian carp itself often becomes prey for predatory fish and near-water predators (snakes, otters, herons, etc.)
Freshwater fish crucian carp reaches sexual maturity at the age of three to four years. Spawning usually occurs in several stages per season, when the water temperature reaches optimal values (about 14 °C). But usually the bulk of eggs are laid in May-June. Bottom areas overgrown with aquatic vegetation are selected for spawning grounds.
An interesting feature of silver crucian carp is the ability of females to undergo gynogenesis, that is, to reproduce without the participation of males of their own species. It happens like this: females lay eggs, which are then activated (but not fertilized in the full sense) by the milk of other fish, for example, goldfish or carp; hatched larvae are genetically copies of their mother. As a result, in some reservoirs, silver crucian carp are represented exclusively by females.
Although crucian carp are usually not prone to migration, sometimes during spawning they can leave their lakes, ponds and backwaters into rivers to spawn.
Crucian carp is a common inhabitant of fresh water bodies almost throughout Europe (except for the southern and some western regions, as well as the far north). Since time immemorial, it has been an object of fishing for local residents with a line and a net.
Today, the crucian family of fish remains a popular catch for sport fishermen. It lives both in well-kept private ponds and in natural wild reservoirs, and therefore is publicly accessible to any fisherman. Since catching crucian carp requires only the most basic fishing skills, not a single fishing trip to a freshwater body of water can do without catching at least a few crucian carp on the hook.
However, due to the fact that crucian carp in wild bodies of water is often very small in size, the value of fish caught during sport fishing is usually low. Basically it is a small fish the size of a palm, less often - a little larger. Many fishermen prefer to simply release such small crucian fish back into the pond.
Things are somewhat different in well-kept private reservoirs, where fish are fed and purposefully bred. In such conditions, crucian carp relatively easily gain weight of several hundred grams, and sometimes more than a kilogram. Such fish is already of significant interest not only in sports, but also in culinary terms.
Finally, crucian carp are often purposefully bred as commercial fish for sale. Being omnivorous and completely unpretentious to the conditions in the pond, crucian carp is cheap to produce and does not create unnecessary trouble. True, it is not valued very highly in the food market.
Special mention should be made of the crucian carp of the goldfish species. Since this is an artificial and purely decorative species, it is not found in the wild. It is bred for aquariums and small decorative ponds. It is not customary to eat these crucian carp.
Crucian carp is considered a dietary food, since with an average fat content of its meat of 7%, the calorie content of 100 grams does not exceed 87 kcal.
Like any fish, crucian carp is very healthy because it contains a lot of fat-soluble vitamins, minerals and trace elements. In particular, it is rich in vitamins A, B, C, D, E, PP, as well as copper, zinc, calcium, manganese, sodium, etc. Crucian carp meat contains a lot of iodine, which is very necessary for problems with the thyroid gland. In terms of the amount of protein, crucian carp is comparable to chicken. There is about 18% of this substance in its meat.
The taste characteristics of crucian carp largely depend on the place in which a particular individual lived. Fish caught in a large river or large stagnant body of water has a delicate, slightly sweet taste, while live crucian fish caught in shallow, heavily swampy bodies of water can often taste like mud. Fortunately, this problem can be overcome by soaking the crucian carp in milk or vinegar, or by using more spices.
Another disadvantage of crucian carp, due to which many cooks do not like this fish, is its increased bonyness. Moreover, many of the bones are so small that they are very difficult to visually notice and remove when cutting a carcass. However, there are many recipes to minimize this problem.
The simplest dish of crucian carp, which every amateur fisherman has prepared at least once, is crucian carp in flour, fried in a frying pan. Moreover, many insist that crucian carp prepared in this way are tastier the smaller they are.
Also popular dishes are fried crucian carp in sour cream, borscht or crucian fish soup and oven-baked crucian carp. In Poland, for example, crucian carp in sour cream is a popular holiday dish. Large crucian carp are dried and dried.
Artificial breeding of crucian carp
From the point of view of a fish farmer, crucian carp is good because it is almost not susceptible to infectious diseases and, as follows from the description of the crucian fish, it is not at all picky about the quality of water and is able to quickly gain everything even without feeding. Although golden crucian carp is a native species for most of Russia, silver crucian carp is better suited for artificial breeding and rearing. It gains weight faster and is generally more durable.
Crucian carp can be bred both in monoculture and together with carp. The easiest way is to buy fingerlings from a fish farm (almost every region has farms that breed crucian carp since Soviet times) and then grow them to commercial size in your own pond. Moreover, the size and cleanliness of the pond are not particularly important. The main thing is to observe the planting norm and not allow the pond to dry out.
If the pond is rich in vegetation and invertebrates, then the fish will feed themselves on their own. But to speed up the process of gaining weight, it is better to feed crucian carp with steamed grain, unsalted porridge, pork feed or feed specially designed for crucian carp. With this regime, crucian carp will grow to market size in just one season.