58: Prussian Carp

I write to you from Arapahoe, Ute, and Cheyenne land. I am interested in learning about the different animals that live in the place where I was born. Before we start with today’s animal, I want to emphasize that biological classification as understood by western society has its roots in racism, sexism, and transphobia – here’s a good explainer about why.

Today’s animal is an invasive species, as you may have guessed from its name – the Prussian Carp (Carassius gibelio) also known as the Gibel Carp. Originally from Siberia, they now live in lakes and slow moving rivers throughout Eurasia and North America. They are a highly effective invasive species, mainly because they can reproduce rapidly and their eggs can survive a lot. For example, birds love to eat tasty fish eggs and the Prussian Carp produces so many eggs in a single spawning event that some survive the bird’s digestive tract, spreading wherever the bird flies.

In China, people domesticated this fish into the goldfish sometime after 1150 CE; in Japan, they domesticated another carp into the koi nearly 500 years ago. Goldfish imported from China became popular in Europe in the 1600s and their first entry into North America is disputed but seems to have been in the early 1800s. The US government played a role in spreading them too. From that same article:

“The United States Commission on Fisheries received the first official import of goldfish from Japan in 1878. The Commission was only seven years old then, and as a publicity stunt, it offered free goldfish to D.C. residents. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, these fish were bred in ponds in Washington and Baltimore, and anyone who sent a request through a member of Congress would receive one, along with a glass globe to keep it in.”

Here’s an interesting video about goldfish invading a lake in Boulder. That page also discusses what will be done with the invasive species overrunning that lake: “The collected fish would be collected and taken to a “raptor rehabilitation center” like this one. What would happen to the fish at the rehabilitation center? Well . . . it’s a raptor rehab center, not a fishy rehab center.” Yikes!!