Black carp

The black carp or Chinese black roach (Mylopharyngodon piceus) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Xenocyprididae, the East Asian minnows or sharpbellies. The black carp is the sole extant species of the genus Mylopharyngodon. It is native to lakes and rivers in East Asia, ranging from the Amur Basin across China to Vietnam. One of the largest xenocypridids in the world, the black carp has a typical length of 60–120 cm (23.5–47 in), though it can reach up to 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) in length and 35 kg (77 lb) in weight. It is carnivorous and generally feeds on invertebrates such as snails, clams, and mussels. Black carp, together with bighead carp, silver carp, and grass carp, make up the culturally important "four famous domestic fishes" used in polyculture in China for over 1000 years. It has also been introduced in the United States as one of the invasive "Asian carps", though it is not as widely distributed worldwide as the other three. In China, black carp is widely cultivated for food and Chinese medicine, being one of the most highly esteemed and expensive domestic food fish, and partly because of its diet and limited food supply, is the most scarce and expensive in the marketplace among the "four famous domestic fishes".