Asia, was recognized in the past, but recent authorities treat it as a separate species under the name Cyprinus rubrofuscus. The common carp is native to Europe and Asia and has been introduced to every part of the world except the poles. Both European and Asian asian carp population have been domesticated.

In Europe, domestication of carp as food fish was spread by monks between the 13th and 16th centuries. The carp has a robust build, with a dark gold sheen most prominent on its head. Its body is adorned with large conspicuous scales that are very shiny. It has large pectoral fins and a tapering dorsal fin running down the last two thirds of its body, getting progressively higher as it nears the carp’s head. Its caudal and anal fins may either be a dark bronze or washed with a rubbery orange hue.

Although tolerant of most conditions, common carp prefer large bodies of slow or standing water and soft, vegetative sediments. As schooling fish, they prefer to be in groups of five or more. An egg-layer, a typical adult female can lay 300,000 eggs in a single spawn. Although carp typically spawn in the spring, in response to rising water temperatures and rainfall, carp can spawn multiple times in a season. A single carp can lay over a million eggs in a year.