Common carp - Cyprinus carpio

Distribution ! e common carp [Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus (1758)] has been one of the oldest domesticated species of fi sh for food. Culture of carp in China dates back to at least the 5th century BC, although domestication began much later. ! e European races of carp derived from wild carp of the Danube; the earliest attempts date back to the Roman Empire and spread of Christianity in Europe, from where its domesticated forms were later introduced to other continents (1 and references therein, Fig.1). ! e common carp is divided into two subspecies, C. c. carpio from Europe and C. c. haematopterus from Asia, as reviewed by population genetic data (2 and references therein); populations of the Asian subspecies may be further subdivided into Central Asian and East/Southeast Asian ones (3). Productive populations were domesticated from both ancestral forms, as well as from their mutual hybrids and backcrosses followed by mass selection (2).