Salmo carpio Linnaeus, 1758

Family:  Salmonidae (Salmonids), subfamily: Salmoninae
Max. size:  50 cm SL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 5 years
Environment:  demersal; freshwater; depth range 100 - 200 m
Distribution:  Europe: Lake Garda, Italy. Introduced in several lakes of northern Italy, Germany and New Zealand but all introductions failed.
Diagnosis:  Distinguished from congeners in Italy by its unique almost absence of dark spots on head. Differs further by the combination of the following characters: adults lacking parr-marks; and outside spawning season silvery, with few, very small dark spots on body; during spawning season, some males show a dark marbled color pattern (Ref. 59043).
Biology:  Lives in lakes at 100-200 m depth. Feeds predominantly on zooplankton. Also preys on other benthic invertebrates during summer. Spawns close to underwater springs at 50-300 m depths (Ref. 59043). Threatened due to habitat destruction, pollution and overfishing (Ref. 26100) and possibly due to the introduction of exotic Coregonus and Salmonidae (Ref. 59043).
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered (CR); Date assessed: 31 January 2006 (A2bde) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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