The carp itself, Cyprinus carpio, has a very wide distribution, having spread, through the agency of man, over nearly the whole of Europe and a part of North America, where it lives in lakes, ponds, canals, and slow-running rivers with plenty of The Common Carp.
In the British Isles the 1 The name of the fishes of the genus Cyprinus is derived from the island of Cyprus, the ancient sanctuary of Venus; this name is supposed to have arisen from observations of the fecundity and vivacity of carp during the spawning period.
A close ally of the carp is the Crucian carp, Cyprinus carassius, chiefly distinguished by the absence of barbels.
At the present time it represents an intermingling of marine and freshwater forms. To the former belongs the herring (Clupea), and to the latter, species of Cyprinus, Perca and Silurus, also a lobster.
The common carp (Cyprinus carpio), originally a Chinese fish, has for centuries been acclimatized in Europe, where indeed it is in places a true domestic creature, with definite variations.