Systematics, Distribution, Diversity, and Abundance of Herbivorous Fishes

The three species of the Chinese carp are the grass carp, the silver carp, and the bighead carp. They belong to the family Cyprinidae. The grass carp is included in the subfamily Leuciscinae and is the sole member of the genus Ctenopharyngodon. ^{1 , 2} The other two species are included by Howes ³ in the subfamily of Hypophthalmichthyinae. However, other authors such as Kryzanovskij ⁴ placed Hypophthalmichthys in the subfamily Leuciscinae with the genus Ctenopharyngodon. Taxonomic ambiguity also exists concerning the generic classification of these species. Oshima ⁵ considered morphological differences between the silver carp and bighead carp as being significant enough to include the latter species in the separate genus Aristichthys. Also, Gosline ⁶ argued that clear indications of a cultrin deviation of Hypophthalmichthys and Aristichthys existed. Howes, ³ however, disagreed with these authors and stated that the taxa H. nobilis and H. molitrix “possess unique synamorphies, and consequently belong to Hypophthalmichthys”. H. nobilis is the name accepted by the American Fisheries Society’s Committee on Names of Fish, ⁷ and, therefore, it is used in this book. Nevertheless, a synonymous name, Aristichthys nobilis, can also be found, especially in the older literature.