CRAP

CRAP

Name: CARP

Latin: Cyprinus Carpio
English: Carp

Family: Cyprinidae

Species: 2000 specii

Trading forms:
frozen (-18º C), - whole, B/E (beheaded – eviscerated), eviscerated, fillet with or without skin, IQF (individually frozen), packed in 20 –25 kilo boxes

Presentation:

Origin: Romania, Argentina, USA

Size: + 1,5 kg/piece, (whole, B/E, eviscerated); +800g/piece for fillets

Preparation: fried, grilled, oven baked, canned,

Nutritional value: vitamin B12, selenium, proteins and phosphorus

Recipes: see www.DonMariano.ro

The carp is a freshwater fish of the Cyprinid family, with large, silver-rust scales, with a thick lip and two pairs of whiskers on the upper jaw. The fish has a strong, cylinder-like body, and a long dorsal fin. The back of the carp is green-brown to black, and the belly is yellow- white. A feature of the carp is found in its pharyngeal teeth, which are placed in three rows on the back of its neck, at the very beginning of its esophagus. These teeth are used for crushing and grinding food.

The carp is spread almost all over the world, populating both brackish and fresh waters. It originates in Asia, from where, along the centuries, it entered Europe, probably brought by the Romans.
Currently the most famous carp are farmed fish and they are abundant in calm waters. The carp grows much more slowly in the wild than in fish farms.
Body length can reach 1 meter and a maximum weight of 40 kilos. It lives up to 30 years, sometimes more.

Carp reach sexual maturity at 4 -5 years of age. The female may deposit an amount of eggs up to 23% of its net weight, between 650,000 to 1 million eggs per year.
In the months of April-May the carp spawn in coastal areas where there are aquatic plants to which the eggs can stick.

Carp are fish that live at great depths and spend the winter in the deepest waters they can find. Due to their inactive state in the cold months, they do not require a rich diet.

Carp feeds scratching the bottom of the water bed up to a depth of 20 cm. The basic menu consists of larvae, worms, clams, plants, etc. Large specimens feed of fish, frogs and crayfish. Normally a carp consumes a daily amount of food equal to twice its own weight.

Due to the excellent quality of its meat, carp is one of the most popular freshwater fish species worldwide.
The carp is known for its tasty, fat-free meat, with high nutritional value. Carp caught in ponds must be kept for several days in clean water to lose the taste of mud.

From carp, several domestic varieties were obtained (scaley carp, mirror carp, the naked carp etc), usually grown in fish farms.

In Romania seven species of carp are known:
1. Common carp (Carpio Ciprinius) – similar to the crucian.

2. Wild carp
It is the most widespread species in Romania.
It lives in undeveloped lakes, the Danube and the Danube Delta.

3. Mirror Carp (Salmont), has no scales on the largest part of the body surface. It has a brown-yellowish color. It can reach a weight of 30 kilos.

4. Naked Carp is like a mirror. It totally lacks scales on the body. It grows in ponds and fish ponds and can reach an age of 35-40 years and a weight of 40 kilos.

5. Amur carp (Chinese carp). It has a fusiform body, it reaches a length of 1.3 meters and a weight of 30 kilos.

6. Phytophagous

7. Novac (Sanger)