Meen valarthal(Fish Farming) -Grass carp

Grass Carp Fish

Grass carp is generally a carp fish of China and Russia. This fish is suitable forfarming in pond with other carp fish. Grass carp fish is mostly available in Asia but also available in some other places of the world. They generally lives in lakes, backwaters of large rivers, pools and ponds and a carp fish of freshwater. It can move very fast in the water. Grass carp known as known as white amur in United States. The physical characteristics, classification, food habit and breeding of grass carp fishare listed bellow.

Classification of Grass Carp Fish:

Scientific classification of grass carp fish are described bellow.

• Kingdom       :       Animalia
• Phylum         :       Chordata
• Class            :       Actinopterygii
• Order            :       Cypriniformes
• Family          :       Cyprinidae
• Subfamily      :       Squaliobarbinae
• Genus           :       Ctenopharyngodon
• Species         :       C. idella

Scientific Name      :       Ctenopharyngodon idella

Physical Characteristics:

Physical characteristics of grass carp fish are described bellow.

Grass Carp Fish

• The body of grass carp fish has similarity with mrigal fish.
• They has to trunk in their lips.
• Dorsal fin is small sized.
• The backside is slightly greed colored.
• Head is comparatively smaller than their body.
• Grass carp fish is very important for aquatic weed control.
• They has no barbels.
• There are about 40-42 scales in the complete lateral line.
• Their dorsal fin has about 8-10 soft rays.
• Anal fin is located closer to the tail.
• Grass carp fish is very fast growing fish species.
• Adult fish lengths about 1-1.2 meters.
• Weights about 18 kilograms.
• On an average a grass carp fish survive for 5-9 years.

Food:

The grass carp is a freshwater vegetation fish. They eats different types of plants and leaves form the water. Sometimes they eat food up to three times their own body weight everyday. They eat food from all water level. They eats various types of aquatic weeds, plants, leaves, green grasses etc. from the pond. They plays a very vital role in controlling aquatic weeds by consuming them.

Breeding:

Grass carp don't lays eggs in bounded water. They lays eggs in open water reservoir like river. 20°c-30°c temperature is very suitable for reproduction process of grass carp fish. Minnow can also be produced artificially in the hatchery