Crucian Carp

[Gaffer]

Nice one Crocky, what a lovely fish!

 

Good to see a 'fish' related topic as well!

[Zinky]

Nice fish all the same.

But looks iffy above the mouth and eye sockets

[Jamie Thornton]

In the Anglers Mail the other week a 17 year old caught a 5lb 1oz Crucian. It is still being investigated at the moment but if it is a true crucian then it will be a record.

 

[ 11. September 2002, 05:05 PM: Message edited by: Jamie Thornton ]

[Chris Plumb]

Firstly can I say what a cracking fish!!! I'd have loved to have caught it - whatever it's parentage!!

 

There are a few things that worry me a bit about it being a true crucian and I suspect it may be a hybred common, though of course it's very difficult to tell just from a picture - especially as I can't see the dorsal fin.

 

My doubts stem from overall colour - put your hand over the head and you'd have to say it looks like a common!! Crucians usually are darker on their backs merging to a creamy/yellow belly. As has already been mentioned the head looks wrong but its not just that it's the line of the head up the rest of the body which should be continuous. Finally the colouring of the pelvic fin looks too pale, Crucian fins darken toward the tip.

 

Compare with these pictures of true crucians from Summer Pit at Yately. (Home of the current British Record)

 

http://www.rmcangling.co.uk/show.phtml?ID=466

 

Chris

 

[ 12. September 2002, 09:29 AM: Message edited by: Chris Plumb ]

[peter mccue]

Having returned an email to David, he already knows that I don't think it's a true Crucian, & my concerns were also centered around the head.

 

Now that I have had a look at the link that Chris provided I'm convinced it's not a true Cru. All the scale counts are within the Crucian limits & so are the ray counts where you can see them, but the head is wrong. The lips are too protusible & the head is the wrong shape, & as a previous poster has already said the eye is decidedly non-Crucian.

 

However, to repeat the majority, this is a top catch no matter what the genetics are.

 

Well done David.

[Crocky1]

Thanks to all who replied. It was much appreciated.

Good fishing

David

[Vagabond]

Lovely fish - congratulations!

 

However,if it is a common X crucian hybrid, there should be some residual barbels - often hard to spot.

 

Another possible scenario is a Brown Goldfish X Crucian hybrid and I've read somewhere that these particular hybrids (unlike most hybrids) will backcross with either parent species - a nightmare for identification.

 

DNA profiling may be the only answer (NOT a simple or cheap operation)

 

As I pointed out some months back, beware of putting too much reliance on fin-ray and scale counts. Different "authorities" give differing values.

 

And remember the "record" crucian that was recaught a year or so later and accepted as a "record" goldfish until someone pointed out the photos of the two "records" seemed to be of the same fish.

 

That is not to "knock" anyone, just to illustrate how difficult identification of crucians and goldfish can be.

 

But a cracking fish all the same!