The mud carp is a native Asian freshwater fish with a broad distribution from the Mekong River to the Pearl River deltas, inhabiting lakes, rivers and reservoirs.[citation needed]
Mud carp cultivation was introduced to China during the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) as a substitute for common carp, as the common carp was forbidden to fish due to a ban.[2]Chinese aquaculture farmers adapted by raising mud carp, which were bottom feeders, in polyculture with top-feeding grass carp, while silver carp or bighead carp lived and fed in the middle depths.[3]
Mud carp is an omnivore and mainly consumes water plants or insects. Farm raised carp are fed pellets.[citation needed]
Culinary use
Due to low cost of production, the fish is mainly consumed by the poor and locally consumed; it is mostly sold live and eaten fresh, but can be dried and salted.[2] Increased fishing has threatened the population of mud carp.[1]
The fish is sometimes canned (typically as fried dace with salted black beans) or processed as fish cakes, fish balls [6] or dumplings. They can be found for retail sale within China and throughout the Chinese diaspora.[2] Canned dace from China has periodically been found to carry traces of malachite green, a carcinogenic antimicrobial banned for use in food.[7][8][9]
