silver carp

silver carp

Scientific name: Hypophthalmichthys molitrix
Situation in the wild: Common
Jerusalem Zoo: Large group in bird lake
The Silver Carp, together with the common carp, the Grass carp and others provide an ecological solution to cleaning freshwater reserves. Carp fish are not picky when it comes to food. In the wild this fish will eat insect larvae that live on the bottom of the water, using a pair of tentacles to find them, but it will actually eat anything it finds. Since Carp will eat almost anything, it is used as a natural sanitizer eating all organic waste that accumulates at the bottom of the water reserve. At the zoo, the Silver carp helps the Common carp that feeds on minute algae (Phytoplankton) and the Grass carp that feeds on water plants. Large individuals can be seen at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, if you stop and look into the central bird lake, or at the Sumatran Tiger pool.
Carp is a common name for various freshwater fish originally from Eurasia and southeast Asia, where it was also domesticated for human use and long ago became an important food fish to humans, as well as popular ornamental fishes (like koi and goldfish). It spread east and west to Europe thousands of years ago. The success of the Carp is due to the fact that it is extremely adaptable. The Carp come from temperate climates, characterized with great changes between temperatures. It can withhold extremely cold temperatures on one side, or very hot temperatures on the other. It can also withstand very low concentrations of oxygen, so it can also live in polluted waters, with extreme changes in acidity, PH levels and salinity. It has been introduced to, or spread into at least 88 countries around the world including Israel. In Israel, the Carp spread only towards the end of the 20th century, after being imported from Eastern Europe with development of the fish industry. The Carp now populates the Jordan River area, including the lake Kineret and rivers, after some individuals escaped fish pools. The silver carp is also called the flying carp for its tendency to leap from the water when startled. They can grow to over 40 lb (18 kg), and can leap 10 ft (3 m) in the air