Cyprinus micristius

The body is similar to that of a carp. Laterally flattened, with a slightly raised back and a round and straight abdomen. The head is conical. The snout is short and slightly pointed. The mouth is terminal and horseshoe-shaped. The lips are thin. There are two pairs of short whiskers, the corner whiskers of the mouth are slightly shorter than the snout whiskers, and the ends extend to or beyond the anterior edge of the eyes. There is a groove on the crown of the second and third teeth of the main row of hypopharyngeal teeth. The eyes are located on the upper side. The scales are relatively large, with 36-39 scales on the lateral line. The last unbranched rays of the dorsal and anal fins are hard spines, with fine teeth on the rear edge; the origins of the dorsal and pelvic fins are opposite or behind the dorsal fin, and the outer edges are slightly concave; the paired fins are large. The caudal fin is forked. The upper part of the eye is red; the head and back of the body are blue-gray

It is only distributed in Dianchi Lake in Yunnan Province. It mostly lives in still water bodies with abundant aquatic plants and is a mid- and lower-level fish.

Small carp (scientific name: Cyprinus (Mesocyprinus) micristius) is a species endemic to my country, belonging to the subgenus Cyprinus of the genus Cyprinus, subgenus Cyprinus of the genus Cyprinus, subfamily Cyprinidae of the family Cyprinidae.

The small carp has a mixed diet, mainly animal bait, mainly aquatic insects and shrimps, followed by small snails, filamentous algae and cladocerans, and occasionally a small amount of small fish. The breeding season is May and June, and a few extend to early July. They like to lay eggs in the muddy and sandy places near the lake. The eggs are light yellow, with a diameter of 1.1~1.3 mm. The egg carrying capacity is small, generally only about 10,000. Individuals are not big, generally 120-160 mm long. They grow slowly, and generally weigh about 250 grams.

The historical production of small carp is not high. In recent years, a large number of high-back crucian carp and carp have been developed in Dianchi Lake, while small carp has a low reproduction rate and grows slowly, which puts it at a disadvantage in the competition for survival. In addition, the decline in the water level of Dianchi Lake, water pollution, reclamation of lakes, overfishing and careless introduction of species have led to a sharp decline in the population of small carp, and no traces have been seen in the past 20 years.

At present, the production area has established the "Dianchi Management Regulations", which closes the lake to 5 fish every year, and demarcates 7 permanent closed lakes and fishing protection areas to provide places for feeding and breeding.

Listed as Critically Endangered (CR) by the IUCN Red List.

Listed as Endangered (EN) in the Red List of Chinese Species.

Also listed as Endangered in the Red List of Endangered Animals in China - Fish.

Listed as Level 2 in the List of Nationally Protected Wildlife in China.

Protect wildlife and stop eating game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!