Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

  • Scientific name

    • Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes, 1844)

  • Common name

    • Silver carp

  • Family

    • Cyprinidae

  • External links

    • Fishbase
Trait completeness 82%
Total data149
References28
Image of Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Author: Fabrice Téletchéa
License: All rights reserved

Traits detail

Egg (100.0%)

Trait id Trait Primary data Secondary Data References
1 Oocyte diameter 0.7-1.3 1.0 mm Horvath et al, 1992
1 Oocyte diameter 1.08-1.43 [Egg before swelling] 1.25 mm Mikodina and Makeyeva, 1981
1 Oocyte diameter 0.7-1.6 [Unfertilized at stage IV] 1.15 mm Esmaeili and Johal, 2005
1 Oocyte diameter Mean of 1.27 ± 0.05 in 1982 and 1.25 ± 0.03 in 1983 1.27 mm Verigin et al, 1990
2 Egg size after water-hardening 3.7-6 4.85 mm Horvath et al, 1992
2 Egg size after water-hardening 3.68-5.02 [egg after swelling, the membrane diameter increases 3-5 times] 4.35 mm Mikodina and Makeyeva, 1981
2 Egg size after water-hardening Water-hardened egg 4.9-5.6 5.25 mm Kolar et al, 2005
2 Egg size after water-hardening Diameter of swollen eggs at 3 different dates: mean 3.22 (3.05-3.50), mean 3.22 (3.01-3.79) and 3.87 (3.02-4.29) 3.27 mm Makeeva et al, 1988
2 Egg size after water-hardening Mean of 4.28 ± 0.03 in 1982 and 3.92 ± 0.02 in 1983 4.28 mm Verigin et al, 1990
2 Egg size after water-hardening After the eggs have been fertilized and have absorbed water, the egg membrane expands to about 5-6 mm 5.5 mm Naca, 1989
3 Egg Buoyancy Pelagic, only water-hardened eggs floated Pelagic Lahnsteiner et al, 2001
3 Egg Buoyancy Semi-pelagic and derive to the downstream Pelagic Bruslé and Quignard, 2001
3 Egg Buoyancy Semi-pelagic [Needs a river must be longer than 200 km] Pelagic Billard, 1997
3 Egg Buoyancy Pelagic Pelagic Barbier, 2001
3 Egg Buoyancy Drifting egg [The largest number of eggs are found in the upper water layer in the main river chanel] Pelagic Abdusamadov, 1986
3 Egg Buoyancy Eggs developp in pelagic water of the river current [The buoyancy of the egg is achieved by the penetration under the membrane of a considerable amount of water and the creation of perivitelline space] Pelagic Mikodina and Makeyeva, 1981
3 Egg Buoyancy Semi-buoyant eggs Pelagic Kolar et al, 2005
3 Egg Buoyancy Silver carp shed bathypelagic eggs in river systems Pelagic Esmaeili and Johal, 2005
3 Egg Buoyancy Develop in pelagic water Pelagic Kunz, 2004
3 Egg Buoyancy The eggs of chinese carps are semibuoyant and are carried by currents until they hatch Pelagic Scholfield, 2005
3 Egg Buoyancy Pelagic eggs and larvae are carried more than 500 km from the spawning grounds Pelagic Gorbach and Kryhtin, 1988
3 Egg Buoyancy Having a greater specific gravity than water, eggs sink to the bottom in still water; yet, they are semi-buoyant in a current, floating until the fry hatch Demersal Naca, 1989
4 Egg adhesiveness The eggs do not attach to the substrate Non-Adhesive Esmaeili and Johal, 2005
4 Egg adhesiveness Characterized by slight stickiness (due to acid mucopolysaccharies on the surface of the envelope) observed only in the first 2-3 minutes Adhesive Kunz, 2004
4 Egg adhesiveness The eggs are seperated and nonadhesive Non-Adhesive Naca, 1989
5 Incubation time 1-2 1.5 days Horvath et al, 1992
5 Incubation time 14-17 hour at 28-30°C 15.5 days Bruslé and Quignard, 2001
5 Incubation time 29-36 hour at 20°C 32.5 days Billard, 1997
5 Incubation time 34-36 hour [23-25°C], 50-70 hour [18-20°C] 35.0 days Abdusamadov, 1986
5 Incubation time 61 hours [At 18°C], 50 [20°C], 24 [25°C], 18 [28°C], 16 [30°C] 61.0 days Naca, 1989
5 Incubation time Hatch from the envelopped at pahse 19 a day after fertilization (water temperature 26-28°C) 27.0 days Burlakov et al,2006
6 Temperature for incubation 28-30 29.0 °C Bruslé and Quignard, 2001
6 Temperature for incubation 23-25 [But also at lower T: 18-20] 24.0 °C Abdusamadov, 1986
6 Temperature for incubation At 27°C, eggs keep their capacity for fertilization for 20 seconds [At 19-23°C, the fertilization capacity of a considerable number of eggs was preserved slightly longer-up to 30 seconds] 21.0 °C Mikodina and Makeyeva, 1981
6 Temperature for incubation Between 17 and 26.5°C in natural conditions 17.0 °C Krykhtin and Gorbach, 1982
6 Temperature for incubation The optimum temperature is between 25 and 27°C 25.0 °C Naca, 1989
6 Temperature for incubation The eggs were incubated in Weiss's apparatus under 27-28°C 27.5 °C Burlakov et al,2006
7 Degree-days for incubation 24-50 37.0 °C * day Horvath et al, 1992
7 Degree-days for incubation 24-30 27.0 °C * day Billard, 1997
7 Degree-days for incubation 35-50 42.5 °C * day Abdusamadov, 1986
7 Degree-days for incubation 8 [Effective day-degrees] 8.0 °C * day Kamler, 2002

Larvae (100.0%)

Trait id Trait Primary Data Secondary Data References
8 Initial larval size 5-5.2 5.1 mm Horvath et al, 1992
8 Initial larval size 7.2 mm for 2 days old larvae 7.2 mm Naca, 1989
8 Initial larval size 5.2 mm at hatching 5.2 mm Burlakov et al,2006
9 Larvae behaviour Pelagic eggs and larvae are carried more than 500 km from the spawning grounds Pelagic Gorbach and Kryhtin, 1988
10 Reaction to light Clearly displayed a positive phototaxis Photopositive Radenko and Alimov, 1991
11 Temperature during larval development 26-32, but 32°C is the optimum for growth and survival 29.0 °C Radenko and Alimov, 1991
11 Temperature during larval development Reared at 25°C 25.0 °C Dabrowski, 1984
11 Temperature during larval development Reared at 26-30°C 28.0 °C Santiago et al, 2003
12 Sibling intracohort cannibalism No evidence of any form of aggression or cannibalism in silver carp, grasscarp Absent Hecht and Pienaar, 1993
13 Full yolk-sac resorption High mortality of unfed fish was observed starting on day 6, except for one tank, all larvae in replicate tanks were dead by day 11. At 26-30°C 28.0 °C * day Santiago et al, 2003
13 Full yolk-sac resorption The larvae 2.5 days after hatching are at phase 23; their length is 7.4 mm. They begin to actively catch food oustide,but continue mostly to feed on yolk, which is present as relatively substantial residue 2.5 °C * day Burlakov et al,2006
14 Onset of exogeneous feeding Carp larvae that just started to feed exogenously (about 3 days post-hatch) were used, reared at 26-30°C 28.0 °C * day Santiago et al, 2003
14 Onset of exogeneous feeding Rearing fry and fingerlings involves nurturing 3-4 day-old postlarvae, which have begun to eat 3.5 °C * day Naca, 1989

Female (67.0%)

Trait id Trait Primary Data Secondary Data References
15 Age at sexual maturity 5-7 6.0 year Horvath et al, 1992
15 Age at sexual maturity 5, but most 7-8, females 7.5 year Abdusamadov, 1986
15 Age at sexual maturity 3-6 [China, unsexed] 4.5 year Fishbase, 2006
15 Age at sexual maturity 3-4 but up to 5-6 3.5 year Kolar et al, 2005
15 Age at sexual maturity The broodstock analyzed is 5th - 6th generation reproduced artificially 5.0 year Verigin et al, 1990
16 Length at sexual maturity 40-100 70.0 cm Horvath et al, 1992
16 Length at sexual maturity 66 66.0 cm Abdusamadov, 1986
16 Length at sexual maturity 55-60 [Unsexed, China] 57.5 cm Fishbase, 2006
16 Length at sexual maturity Fish used in the experiments ranged from 64.5 to 73.8 cm in 1982 and 58.8 to 67.0 in 1983 73.8 cm Makeeva et al, 1988
16 Length at sexual maturity Broodstock used was: mean 68.5±0.5 (range 58-78) in 1982 and mean 63.4±0.3 (range 55-76) in 1983 68.5 cm Verigin et al, 1990
17 Weight at sexual maturity 3-10 6.5 kg Horvath et al, 1992
17 Weight at sexual maturity 4.8 4.8 kg Abdusamadov, 1986
17 Weight at sexual maturity Broodstock used was: mean 5.75 ± 0.15 (range 3.56-8.71) in 1982 and mean 4.81 ±0.07 (range 3.40-8.70) in 1983 5.75 kg Verigin et al, 1990
17 Weight at sexual maturity Average body weigth 7,900 kg in the Changjiang 7.0 kg Naca, 1989
18 Female sexual dimorphism Pectoral fin is smooth Absent Naca, 1989
18 Female sexual dimorphism The females can be distinguished from males by the absence of serrations on the inner surface of pectoral fin rays Present Esmaeili et al, 2005
19 Relative fecundity 40-80 60.0 thousand eggs/kg Horvath et al, 1992
19 Relative fecundity 75-140 107.5 thousand eggs/kg Barbier, 2001
19 Relative fecundity Average 131 131.0 thousand eggs/kg Naca, 1989
20 Absolute fecundity 200-1500 850.0 thousand eggs Horvath et al, 1992
20 Absolute fecundity From 315.100 to 1340.5 [Average 812.2] 315.1 thousand eggs Abdusamadov, 1986
20 Absolute fecundity 299-5.1 152.05 thousand eggs Kolar et al, 2005
20 Absolute fecundity Mean 603.7 ± 29.5 (range 240.8-1261) in 1982 and 571.1 (range 103.3-1298.4) in 1983 603.7 thousand eggs Verigin et al, 1990
20 Absolute fecundity Average absolute fecundity: 1,035,000 1.0 thousand eggs Naca, 1989
23 Intensifying oogenesis activity Vitellogenesis in these fishes completes in spring, when the maturation coefficients of females reaches maximum level ['April', 'May', 'June'] Makeeva et al, 1988
24 Maximum GSI value 18-20% [Not specified when] 19.0 percent Makeeva et al, 1988
24 Maximum GSI value Average maturity rate 15.1% 15.1 percent Naca, 1989

Male (56.0%)

Trait id Trait Primary Data Secondary Data References
27 Age at sexual maturity 4-6 5.0 years Horvath et al, 1992
27 Age at sexual maturity 4, most 5-7 6.0 years Abdusamadov, 1986
27 Age at sexual maturity 3-6 [Unsexed, China] 4.5 years Fishbase, 2006
27 Age at sexual maturity 3-4 [Male usually mature one year earlier than female] 3.5 years Kolar et al, 2005
27 Age at sexual maturity The broodstock analyzed is 5th - 6th generation reproduced artificially 5.0 years Verigin et al, 1990
28 Length at sexual maturity 40-90 65.0 cm Horvath et al, 1992
28 Length at sexual maturity 61 61.0 cm Abdusamadov, 1986
28 Length at sexual maturity 55-60 [Unsexed, China] 57.5 cm Fishbase, 2006
28 Length at sexual maturity Individuals studied ranged from 65 ± 0.7 to 70.7± 1.2 65.0 cm Belova, 1981
28 Length at sexual maturity Broodstock used was: mean 64.7 ± 0.5, (range 54-75) in 1982, and mean 60.2 ± 0.5 (range 43-71) in 1983 64.7 cm Verigin et al, 1990
29 Weight at sexual maturity 3-7 5.0 kg Horvath et al, 1992
29 Weight at sexual maturity 4.8 4.8 kg Abdusamadov, 1986
29 Weight at sexual maturity Most of the caught individuals weigthed 6-12 kg; this size is a characteristic of the sexually mature individuals 9.0 kg Ciolac, 2004
29 Weight at sexual maturity Individuals ranged from 2.645 ± 140 to 3.464 ± 215 2.65 kg Belova, 1981
29 Weight at sexual maturity Broodstock used was mean 4.02 ± 0.2 (range 2.27-5.57) in 1982 and 3.50 ± 0.1 (range 2.40-5.20) in 1983 4.02 kg Verigin et al, 1990
30 Male sexual dimorphism There is a row of fine bony atenoid serrations on several of the foremost fin rays of the pectoral fin. They are coarse and thorny and present throughout the life of the fish* Present Naca, 1989
33 Maximum GSI value Range between 0.87 and 1.64 but not specified when or if it was maximal values 0.87 percent Belova, 1981

Spawning conditions (93.0%)

Trait id Trait Primary Data Secondary Data References
36 Spawning migration distance About 125-260 km 192.5 km Abdusamadov, 1986
36 Spawning migration distance Very long migrations: thousands kms No data Krykhtin and Gorbach, 1982
36 Spawning migration distance Most of the reproducing white amur and silver carp complete a short post-spawning migration of some 100 km 100.0 km Gorbach and Kryhtin, 1988
37 Spawning migration period The beginning of the spawning migration occurred at the end of April, at 16-17°C, the peak was observed in the middle and at the end of May and in the beginning of June ['April', 'May', 'June'] Abdusamadov, 1986
37 Spawning migration period In May, there is an increasing amount of adults, probably as a result of the start of the crowding process that usually precedes the upstream migration. In June, the capture was the largest one; it signalises the peak of migration. The water temperature is of 19°C to 24°C ['May', 'June'] Ciolac, 2004
39 Spawning season May-July ['May', 'July'] Horvath et al, 1992
39 Spawning season June-July ['June', 'July'] Barbier, 2001
39 Spawning season Spawning period continues from April to July [Mass spawning takes place at the end of May and in the beginning of June] ['April', 'May', 'June', 'July'] Abdusamadov, 1986
39 Spawning season Begins in June, extends into July and sometimes event the first days of August ['June', 'July', 'August'] Krykhtin and Gorbach, 1982
39 Spawning season Mid May through Mid-June in Arkansas, May through July in the Terek River ['May', 'June', 'July'] Kolar et al, 2005
39 Spawning season The grass carp spawns earlier, at a lower temperature than silver carp and big head No data Ciolac, 2004
39 Spawning season Occurs in June through July, mainly from the second half of June to the first half of July ['June', 'July'] Gorbach and Kryhtin, 1988
39 Spawning season In the Changjiang River drainage, silver carp and grass carp generally starts spawning in late April or early May ['April', 'May'] Naca, 1989
40 Spawning period duration 8 to 10 weeks 8.0 weeks Kolar et al, 2005
41 Spawning temperature 21-25 23.0 °C Horvath et al, 1992
41 Spawning temperature 25 25.0 °C Bruslé and Quignard, 2001
41 Spawning temperature 17-25 21.0 °C Billard, 1997
41 Spawning temperature 21-26 23.5 °C Barbier, 2001
41 Spawning temperature 18-20 19.0 °C Abdusamadov, 1986
41 Spawning temperature Begins above 17°C, 21-26 is assumed to be the optimal temperature for spawning 23.5 °C Krykhtin and Gorbach, 1982
41 Spawning temperature 18-19 but also 22-26 18.5 °C Kolar et al, 2005
41 Spawning temperature 19.2-29.0 24.1 °C Scholfield, 2005
41 Spawning temperature The water temperature stabilized for a relatively large period of time in the interval of 18°C to at least 22°C 18.0 °C Ciolac, 2004
41 Spawning temperature The optimum temperature for spawning is 22-28°C 25.0 °C Naca, 1989
42 Spawning water type River with stroung current Flowing or turbulent water Bruslé and Quignard, 2001
42 Spawning water type Water with strong current: 0.7-1.4 m/s Flowing or turbulent water Billard, 1997
42 Spawning water type Water with strong current: 0.7-1.4 m/s Flowing or turbulent water Barbier, 2001
42 Spawning water type Spawning takes place after a sharp rise in the water level and current velocity Flowing or turbulent water Abdusamadov, 1986
42 Spawning water type Flowing water Flowing or turbulent water Mikodina and Makeyeva, 1981
42 Spawning water type Places with a rapid and turbulent water current, about 0.7-1.4 m/s Flowing or turbulent water Krykhtin and Gorbach, 1982
42 Spawning water type Current velocities 0.3-3 m/s Flowing or turbulent water Kolar et al, 2005
42 Spawning water type Spawning grounds are usually located in river reaches characterized by turbulent or whirlpool-like flow, often in the vicinity of islands or stream junctions [Reported current velocities of spawning areas in China ranged from 0.33 to0.90m/s] Flowing or turbulent water Scholfield, 2005
42 Spawning water type The existence and the persistence of the increasing water level, the water flow up to 3 m per second No category Ciolac, 2004
42 Spawning water type Their spawning occurs in a considerable current Flowing or turbulent water Belova, 1981
43 Spawning depth Near the bottom of river No data Bruslé and Quignard, 2001
43 Spawning depth Deep water No data Billard, 1997
43 Spawning depth Shallow waters: tens of centimeters to 2 m of waters 2.0 m Krykhtin and Gorbach, 1982
44 Spawning substrate Pelagophilous Pelagophils Mikodina and Makeyeva, 1980
44 Spawning substrate Their eggs are deposited in flowing water and develop in palegic water Pelagophils Kunz, 2004
44 Spawning substrate The silver carp an the grass carp seem to prefer the superficial waters as well as the big head stay in the deeper horizons of the water Phytophils Ciolac, 2004
44 Spawning substrate Belong to the pelagophilous group Pelagophils Belova, 1981
44 Spawning substrate The eggs are fertilized in the water Pelagophils Naca, 1989
45 Spawning site preparation No No category Verigin et al, 1999
45 Spawning site preparation Open water/susbtratum egg scatterers Open water/substratum scatter Fishbase, 2006
45 Spawning site preparation Belong to the pelagophilous group No category Belova, 1981
46 Nycthemeral period of oviposition Occurs in the morning and evening during calm weather Day Krykhtin and Gorbach, 1982
47 Mating system From two to three males swam along one female No category Verigin et al, 1999
48 Spawning release The average egg deposition was 3 hours, several clutches Multiple Verigin et al, 1999
49 Parity Up to 10 or 15 years of age No category Kolar et al, 2005
49 Parity After spawning, beginning of July, gradually return to feed and over-winter Iteroparous Gorbach and Kryhtin, 1988
50 Parental care Nonguarders No care Fishbase, 2006