  the grass carp (ctenopharyngodon idella) is a herbivorous, freshwater fish species of the family cyprinidae, and the only species of the genus ctenopharyngodon. it is a large cyprind native to eastern asia, with a native range from northern vietnam to the amur river on the siberia-china border.mandrak and cudmore. 2004. biological synopsis of grass carp (ctenopharyngodon idella) http://sbisrvntweb.uqac.ca/archivage/24061712.pdf. it is cultivated in china for food, but was introduced in europe and the united states for aquatic weed control. it is a fish of large, turbid rivers and associated floodplain lakes, with a wide degree of temperature tolerance. grass carp will enter reproductive condition and spawn at temperatures of 20 to 30Â°c (68 to 86Â°f).shireman, j.v. and c.r. smith. 1983. synopsis of biological data on the grass carp, ctenopharyngodon idella (cuvier and valenciennes, 1844). food and aquaculture organization synopsis. 135: 86pp. in the united states, the fish is also known as white amur, which is derived from the amur river, where the species is probably native, but has never been abundant. this is not to be confused with the white amur bream (parabramis pekinensis), which is not a particularly close relative. for eating, the fish may be steamed, pan-fried, broiled, or baked. ==appearance and anatomy== grass carp have elongated, chubby, torpedo-shaped body forms. the terminal mouth is slightly oblique with non-fleshy, firm lips, and no barbels.http://www.fishbase.org the complete lateral line contains 40 to 42 scales. broad, ridged, pharyngeal teeth are arranged in a 2, 4-4, 2 formula. the dorsal fin has eight to 10 soft rays, and the anal fin is set closer to the tail than most cyprinids. body color is dark olive, shading to brownish-yellow on the sides, with a white belly and large, slightly outlined scales. the grass carp grows very rapidly. young fish stocked in the spring at  will reach over  by fall. the average length is about 60â
Carp Commercial_fish Fish_of_Asia Fish_of_Bangladesh Herbivorous_animals