📸 PhotoPhoto: USFWS Mountain-Prairie · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons Source
Silver carp
Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Silver carp · ハクレン)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum total length of 1.2 m is about the height of a lower-grade elementary school child (Comparison).
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 50 kg equals two and a half 20 kg bags of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 Requiring no supplemental feed, it became a popular farmed food fish, with catches rising from 1.9 million tons in 1993 to 4.1 million tons in 2003. It is also used to control algal blooms (ADW).
- 💡 When startled by boats or noise, it can leap high out of the water (ADW).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The silver carp is a silvery freshwater cyprinid that filter-feeds on phytoplankton; native to East Asia, it has been introduced worldwide for aquaculture and algal bloom control. It has a smooth keel along the belly and eyes set low on the head.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body is deep and laterally compressed with a large head, and the eyes are positioned low toward the ventral side. Its gills bear more than 100 fine gill rakers that filter out tiny food particles.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Phytoplankton is its main food, supplemented by small amounts of zooplankton and detritus. Famous for leaping out of the water, a single female can carry up to 2 million eggs.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed in the National List of Species of Korea and recorded from the Han River, but because it has difficulty reproducing naturally in Korea's climate, wild individuals are considered very rare.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List NT (2011) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/166081/6168056
- • IUCN Red List category NT — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 6MR5M
- • iucnredlist.org — 6168056
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000057577 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000057577
- • wikidata.org — Q76115
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Silver Carp Adult (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix).jpg
- • fishbase.se — Hypophthalmichthys-molitrix.html
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • animaldiversity.org — Hypophthalmichthys molitrix
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Tanya Fendler · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.