Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Cyprinidae
Genus and species:	Cyprinus carpio

William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":

THE COMMON CARP.

Cyprinus	carpio,	LINNÆUS. Bloch, pt. i. pl. 16.
"	"	Carp.	PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 467, pl. 81.
"	"	"	DON. Brit. Fish. pl. 110.
"	"	"	FLEM. Brit. An. p. 185.
"	"	CUVIER, Règne An. t. ii. p. 271.

Generic Characters. - Body covered with large scales ; a single elongated dorsal fin ; lips fleshy ; mouth small ; teeth in the pharynx, but none on the jaws ; branchiostegous rays 3.

The Carp is noticed by Aristotle and Pliny, but appears not to have been held in the same estimation formerly as at the present day. It is found in most of the lakes and rivers of Europe generally, but those of the southern and temperate parts are most congenial to it ; it is observed to decline in size when transported to the higher northern districts, and is said to be even now unknown in Russia.
Their growth is, however, particularly cultivated in Austria and Prussia, and considerable traffic in Carp prevails in various parts of the European continent, where an acre of water will let for as much yearly rent as an acre of land, and where fresh-water fishes, as articles of food, are held in higher estimation than in this country. Carp are said to live to a great age, even to one hundred and fifty, or two hundred years ; but they lose their rich colour,-their scales, like the productions of the cuticle in some other animals, becoming grey and white with age.
Neither the exact period when, nor the particular country from which, Carp were first brought to England, appear to be distinctly known. Leonard Mascall takes credit to himself for having introduced the Carp, as well as the Pippin ; but notices of the existence of the Carp in England occur prior to Mascall's time 1600. In the celebrated Boke of St. Albans, by Dame Juliana Barnes, or Berners, the Prioress of Sopewell Nunnery, printed at Westminster by Wynkyn de Worde in 1496, Carp is mentioned as a 'deyntous fisshe ;" and in the Privy Purse expenses of King Henry the Eighth in 1532, various entries are made of rewards to persons for bringing "Carpes to the King."* (* Pickering's splendid edition of Walton, page 207, note.)
The old couplet is certainly erroneous, which says,- -

"Turkies, Carps, Hops, Pickerell, and Beer,
Came into England all in one year."

Pike or Pickerell were the Subject of legal regulations in the reign of Edward the First. Carp are mentioned in the Boke of St. Albans, printed in 1496 ; Turkies and Hops were unknown till 1524, previous to which wormwood and other bitter plants were used to preserve beer, and the Parliament in 1528 petitioned against hops, as a wicked weed. Beer was licensed for exportation by Henry the Seventh in 1492, and an excise on beer existed as early as 1281, also in the reign of Edward the First.
In this country the Carp inhabits ponds, lakes, and rivers ; preferring, in the latter those parts where the current is not too strong, and thriving best on soft marly or muddy bottoms. They are very prolific, breeding much more freely in lakes and ponds than in rivers. Bloch found six hundred thousand ova in the roe of a female of nine pounds weight, and Schneider seven hundred thousand in a fish of ten pounds weight. They spawn towards the end of May or the beginning of June, depending on the temperature of the water and the season ; and the ova are deposited upon weeds, among which the female is followed by two or three males, and the fecundation of a large proportion of the ova is by this provision of nature effectually secured ; but they both breed and grow much more freely in some waters than in others, without any apparent or accountable cause. But few Carp exist even in preserved waters in Scotland, and these breed but slowly, and in some instances not at all.
Carp are said to have been introduced into Ireland in the reign of James the First, and are preserved in the counties of Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny, and probably several others.
The larvæ of insects, worms, and the softer parts of aquatic plants, are the food of the Carp. They probably eat little or nothing during winter, and are supposed to bury themselves in mud. White, in his Natural History of Selbourne, says, "in the garden of the Black Bear Inn in the town of' Reading, is a stream or canal, running under the stables, and out into the fields on the other side of the road : in this water are many Carps, which lie rolling about in sight, being fed by travellers, who amuse themselves by tossing them bread : but as soon as the weather grows at all severe these fishes are no longer seen, because they retire under the stables, where they remain till the return of spring."
They feed well in stews ; and Mr. Jesse says of some Carp and Tench, so retained by him, "that they were soon reconciled to their situation, and eat boiled potatoes in considerable quantities ; and the former seemed to have lost their original shyness, eating in my presence without any scruple."
The Carp is exceedingly tenacious of life out of water. Several authors have stated that it is a common practice in Holland to keep them alive for three weeks or a month, by hanging them in a cool place, with wet moss in a net, and feeding them with bread steeped in milk ; taking care to refresh the animal now and then by throwing fresh water over the net in which it is suspended.
Though not so rapid in their growth as some fish, Carp have attained three pounds weight by their sixth year, and six pounds weight before their tenth year. The largest I can refer to are thus noticed in Daniel's Rural Sports: - "Mr. Ladbroke, from his park at Gatton, presented Lord Egremont with a brace that weighed thirty-five pounds, as specimens to ascertain whether the Surrey could not vie with the Sussex Carp." In 1793, at the fishing of the large piece of water at Stourhead, where a thousand brace of killing Carp were taken, the largest was thirty inches long, upwards of twenty-two broad, and weighed eighteen pounds.
At Weston Hall, Staffordshire, the seat of the Earl of Bradford, the painting of a Carp is preserved which weighed nineteen and a half pounds. This fish was caught in a lake of twenty-six acres, called the White Sitch, the largest of three pieces of water which ornament this fine estate.
Carp are difficult to take by angling, or rather very uncertain, - great success one day, and little or none another, happening to the same angler at the same water. Carp manage equally to avoid a net, burying themselves in the mud, and allowing a heavily-loaded ground-line to pass over them without their moving ; but if disturbed from their hiding-places, frequently endeavouring, like the Grey Mullet, to escape over the corked head-line Carp are in season for the table from October to April, and are greatly indebted to cooks for the estimation in which they are held.
The mouth is small; no apparent teeth; a barbule or cirrus at the upper part of each corner of the mouth, with a second smaller one above it on each side ; the nostrils large, pierced at the second third of the distance between the lip and the eye; the eye small ; operculum marked with striæ radiating from the anterior edge ; nape and back rising suddenly. The fin-rays are -

D. 22 : P. 17 : V. .9 : A. 8. : C. 19. Vertebræ 36.

First dorsal fin-ray short and bony ; the second also bony, strongly serrated on the posterior surface ; the third ray flexible, and the longest ray in the fin ; all the other rays flexible, the last ray double : the dorsal and anal fins ending on the same plane. The pectoral fin arises immediately behind the free edge of the operculum, its origin semicircular, concave forwards, upper ray the longest, all the rays flexible. Ventral fin commences, in a vertical line, under the third ray of the dorsal fin ; first anal fin-ray bony and strong, serrated posteriorly ; the other rays flexible, the last double. The tail forked, the longest rays as long again as those of the centre. The caudal rays of the two halves of the tail always unequal in number in the Cyprinidæ. The body covered with large scales, about twelve rows between the ventral and dorsal fins : the general colour golden olive brown, head darkest ; irides golden ; belly yellowish white ; lateral line interrupted, straight ; the fins dark brown.

Frank Buckland (1880) in "Natural History of British Fishes":

CARP.

(Cyprinus carpio.)

Local names : Common Carp, Seizling. German. Der Karpfen. French: La Carpe. Danish: Karpe. Swedish: Karp. Dutch: De Karper. Italian: Carpa.

IN examining a series of the casts of fish it is impossible not to be immediately struck by the architecture, as it were, of each fish. It is so admirably designed by the Creator, that each fish is perfectly adapted (it does not adapt itself, mind) to the conditions of life under which it has to live ; an excellent illustration of this is the comparison of the salmon with the carp.
A salmon is built to live in very rapid waters, the carp to live in stagnant waters. The shape of the salmon may be said to be like that of a racing yacht, while that of a carp may be likened to a Dutch eelscoot. Carp may be said to be water- sheep - herbivorous - gregarious -- of a contented mind.
The carp is, most probably, the most widely distributed fish of all the British species. In former times he was of great value as food, and hardly the ruins of a monastery in existence remain where the remains of the old carp pond, or stews, cannot be easily made out. In the days of the monks there were no railways, deep-sea trawling was not invented, and I doubt much whether mackerel drift-nets had come into use; even if they had, the transport of fish from the sea-coast would not have done for the monks, as fish could not arrive in an edible condition by means of pack-horses. That the monks were in the habit of eating the salted herring was very probable. Necessitas ingenii inventor. The monks, therefore, established carp ponds, where they could get a fish at any moment, either for a feast or a fast day. No doubt the monks had some excellent receipts for cooking carp. They should never be cooked when first taken out of a pond, but be placed in a box in running water, if possible ; they will then get rid somewhat of their muddy flavour. The muddy flavour is probably produced from the food of the carp, which consists of young shoots of water-plants, insects, and worms which live in the pond.
There are generally carp of some size or kind in most ponds and lakes connected with country houses, and it will be well worth the while of proprietors to have the water drawn off to see of what their stock may consist; and this because it appears that after a certain number of carp are in a pond they will not multiply at all. In fact, by a wonderful law of nature, the crop of carp equalises itself by the quantity of food the pond will produce. Moreover, I am quite certain that after a time the carp will eat their own eggs, and very probably their young.
A remarkable fact about carp is that, according to my observations, the female sometimes carries two, if not three, successive layers of eggs. I confess I do not quite understand the physiology of this. Carp eggs are excessively numerous. I have a fine cast in my museum of a carp, kindly lent by Mr. Charles, of 2, Arabella Row, Pimlico. This fish weighed 21½ lbs. I have since, by carefully weighing the roe, discovered by average that it contained no less than 1,310,750 eggs. Another smaller fish, which turned the scale at 16½ Ibs., contained roe which weighed 5½ lbs., giving the total of 2,059,750 eggs. To be accurate, the weights and calculations were made by my friend the late Mr. Thomas, a professional accountant.
Carp live to a very great age. Wheeler, who preceded Keene, fisherman at Windsor Park, told me that a carp in a certain stew in the park must be nearly a hundred years old.
At Fontainbleau, I understand that carp are shown with a white growth about their heads and bodies, and this is pointed out as a proof of their very great age. The fact is, that this white growth, sometimes called moss, is a parasitic vegetable fungus (Saprolegnia ferax). They are also subject to another disease, called the small-pox.
Not very long since, the carp in a certain pond at Windsor were attacked by some mysterious disease which killed many of them, and magnificent fish they were. I fancy I found out the cause, and suggested a remedy, which was immediately to remove the dead and dying fish, having put a grating over the sluice-gates, turning on a current of water so as to completely change the poisonous atmosphere in which the carp had to live. I also suggested that for the future only one-half the number of carp should be kept in the pond, the disease being, as in many other cases, caused by over-stocking.
I will now give a hint which, I trust, will not be thrown away on owners of country houses, and who have fishponds attached to their domains. In most of these fishponds are many carp which have never been angled for, and about which you will probably get no information from the gamekeepers, gardeners, or other persons. I was staying once in a country house in Hampshire, to which was attached a very carpy-looking pond. The master of the house chaffed me about the fish in it, at the same time saying he would come and see the fishing. I well ground-baited a likely-looking hole, and took the depth with the plummet the night before. At early morning I ascertained that fish were about. When evening came on I asked some ladies staying in the house to come out to fish. Twenty-four hours' judicious ground-baiting had acted as a dinner-bell to these water-foxes. The ladies had tremendous sport, catching very large carp, which on fine tackle gave great excitement.
I must say the French anglers are most ingenious as regards many points connected with fishing, especially in the matter of baits for fish ; and here is a ground-bait for carp which is well worth trying. Take a tuft of turf the size of a dinner-plate, the grass of which is green and short ; then with a needle and thread, the thread being green, sew on red worms so as almost to cover the turf; fasten the turf to a board and sink it to the bottom.
I will now give the following excellent hint to anglers for carp, which I have no hesitation in saying is fair fishing, and will frequently dodge the carp when their manner is defiant towards the angler. In places where there are water-lilies and other floating broad-leaved weeds, put one single shot only on the gut, and place this shot on one of the leaves, allowing the bait, which should be a nice lively worm, to hang over the leaf. When you see the shot slipping off the leaf you may be pretty certain the carp has got the bait ; give him time to get the worm and hook well within his leathery mouth and then strike. The astonishment of that carp will be great.
The muddy flavour of carp is due to the food which they eat, namely, the water-plants and the various insects and larvæ ; especially, I believe, the larvæ of midges and gnats, which they find in the mud. Carp also eat young shoots of water-plants and large waterbeetles, and I recommend that in carp ponds the water should be let down, and grass seed sown along the edges and mud. When the grass has sprouted shut the hatches, and let the water cover the grass, which will afford excellent pasture for the carp and here let me tell proprietors of carp ponds that it is very cruel not to feed their fish (see page 334).
Carp have more than once given origin to fairy stories. I was told that fairies could be seen dancing on bright moonlight nights in a certain lake in Ireland. The water was very still but showed rings innumerable. These I found were caused by large carp coming to the surface and smacking their lips as they took in great gulps of air.

Alwyne Wheeler (1969) in "The Fishes of the British Isles and North West Europe":

Carp

Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus, 1758)

NAMES Fr. Carpe; Du. Karper; Ge. Karpfen; Da. Karpe; Sw. Karp.

IDENTIFICATION Four barbels, two each side of the mouth; the base of the dorsal fin is long, with a strong, serrated spine before the dorsal rays. Wild carp have rather elongate bodies, but because of selective breeding many body shapes are known. The mouth is terminal, relatively small, but very protractile. In the normal form the scales are large and completely cover the body; specially bred carp occur with large scales reduced to the lateral line and fin bases (mirror carp), and scaleless, or almost so (leather carp). It grows to an average length of about 20 in (51 cm), and a weight of 7 lb (3 kg), but may be much larger. The British rodcaught record weighed 44 lb (19.8 kg).
The colour is variable; usually the back is brown to brownish green, the sides have a golden touch and the underneath is yellowish. The dorsal fin is dark, the other fins often have a reddish tinge. A golden form (the Hi-goi) has been bred.
D. III-IV/17-22; A. II-III/5; lateral line scales 35-40; pharyngeal teeth in three rows 3 + 1 + 1, much flattened and lightly grooved (Fig. 69).

BIOLOGY The carp thrives in the slow-running rivers of the lowland plains, in lakes and large ponds. It prefers warm (optimum temperature 15-25°C (59-87°F)) and densely weedy waters. It is a gregarious fish often found in small shoals, although the very young and very old are often solitary. Spawning takes place when the water temperature rises to around 18-20°C (64-8°F), usually May to June in southern England, but not until mid-July in northern areas. The eggs are shed on vegetation, often on the bullrushes, Phragmites, at the water's edge, or amongst the water weeds Potamogeton and Myriophyllum in shallow water. The eggs measure between 1.25 and 1.5 mm in diameter and hatch in from five to eight days (when the temperature is from 23-4°C (83-5°F); the alevins are 4 to 5.5 mm at hatching. The growth rate is rapid; at the end of their first year carp measure between 4¾ and 5 in (12-13 cm); by their second 8-10 in (20-5 cm); by their third, 10-11 ¾ in (25-30 cm) and by their fourth, 11¾-14 in (30-36 cm). They are relatively long-lived fish, commonly attaining twelve or fifteen years in the wild; in captivity they may live for forty years or more, but these older fish grow very slowly, are less vigorous and even lose weight with increasing age. Fish culturists usually crop their carp by their sixth year, when they are reckoned to be at their prime. Carp usually mature in their third or fourth year, though in very warm climates and favourable localities they may mature in their second year. At spawning the males have fine white tubercles on the head and anterior body.
The carp is omnivorous, but feeds predominantly on bottom-living animals. The young eat the minute planktonic crustaceans (copepods and Cladocera generally) in their first summer, but from winter onwards feed mainly on the bottom. At all ages they eat chironomid larvae, molluscs, insect larvae and bottom-living crustaceans (Asellus). In summer particularly they forage in mid-water and eat plant matter, and mid-water and surface-living insects. Feeding is much less intense in winter and may cease altogether.
An important food fish, it is extensively farmed in Europe, its fast growth, large size and tolerance of low oxygen conditions making it an ideal fish for intensive culture. These features are the prime cause of its widespread distribution, as it has been cultivated since the Middle Ages and introduced into many countries as a food fish. Its main value in the British Isles is as an angling fish, since its size and caution in taking a bait makes it especially prized. Carp catching, particularly of large specimens, is a specialised sport.

DISTRIBUTION
Throughout Europe except for the most northern areas; introduced to England, Wales and Ireland, but not northern Scotland.