Mrigal carp facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mrigal carp |
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The Mrigal carp (scientific name: Cirrhinus cirrhosus) is a type of ray-finned fish in the carp family. It's also called the white carp. This fish originally comes from streams and rivers in India. Sadly, the only wild group still living is in the Cauvery River. Because of this, it's listed as a vulnerable animal by the IUCN.
Mrigal carp are widely raised in fish farms, a process called aquafarming. You can find them in places outside their native home because people have introduced them there. These fish can grow up to 1 m (3.3 ft) long. The Mrigal carp is different from another similar fish called Cirrhinus mrigala.
Raising Mrigal Carp for Food
Mrigal carp is a very popular fish to eat. It's an important freshwater fish raised in farms all across South Asia. Farmers often raise it with two other main Indian carps: the roho labeo and the catla. This way of farming many types of fish together is called a polyculture system.
People started raising Mrigal carp in India in the early 1940s. By the 1950s and 1960s, this farming spread to other Asian countries. Mrigal carp don't usually have babies naturally in ponds, so farmers have to help them breed.
Indian carps, like the Mrigal, are thought to be tastier than other types of carp raised in Asia. Because of this, they often sell for more money. Since the early 1990s, the amount of Mrigal carp raised each year has been between 250,000 and 550,000 tonnes. There isn't a clear pattern in these numbers. India and Bangladesh are the biggest producers of Mrigal carp.
In Pakistan, this fish is known as "Morakhi" or "Moree." In Nepal, people call it "Naini."
The Mrigal carp was brought to Guangdong province in southern China for fish farming. However, it is now considered an invasive species in the Pearl River basin. This means it has spread and might be causing problems for the local fish there.
Where Mrigal Carp Live and What They Eat
Mrigal carp live near the bottom of rivers and also swim in the open water. They eat tiny plants and animals called plankton. They are also potamodromous, which means they migrate within freshwater rivers.
These fish like to live in fast-flowing streams and rivers. But they can also handle water that is a bit salty. When it's time to lay eggs, they go to the edges of water bodies. They look for places that are about 50 to 100 centimetres (20 to 39 in) deep, with a sandy or clay bottom. A large female Mrigal carp, weighing about 6-kilogram (13 lb), can lay as many as a million eggs!
Mrigal carp grow very quickly. By the time they are two years old, they can be 60 centimetres (24 in) long. They can also weigh as much as 2 kilograms (4.4 lb) by then.
