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39-422: This group includes seven species of largely insectivorous grassland birds. In all species the male at least has a black or brown back and extensively red or yellow underparts. There is disagreement among authorities as to whether Lilian's meadowlark should be ranked as a full species or a subspecies. Red-breasted species, predominantly South American Yellow-breasted species, predominantly North American As

78-405: A protein supplement, particularly when they are breeding. Examples of insectivores include different kinds of species of carp , opossum , frogs , lizards (e.g. chameleons , geckos ), nightingales , swallows , echidnas , numbats , anteaters , armadillos , aardvarks , pangolins , aardwolfs , bats , and spiders . Even large mammals are recorded as eating insects; the sloth bear

117-428: A "Eurasian" carp. Carp have long been an important food fish to humans. Several species such as the various goldfish ( Carassius auratus ) breeds and the domesticated common carp variety known as koi ( Cyprinus rubrofuscus var. "koi" ) have been popular ornamental fishes. As a result, carp have been introduced to various locations, though with mixed results. Several species of carp are considered invasive species in

156-542: A decade later, he described the eastern meadowlark again, this time putting it into the starling genus Sturnus , which Juan Ignacio Molina also used when he first described the long-tailed meadowlark in 1782. In 1816, Louis Pierre Vieillot created the genus Sturnella , moving the meadowlarks into his new taxon. Most taxonomists accepted the new genus, and the western meadowlark, Peruvian meadowlark and Lilian's meadowlark were all placed in this taxon when they were later described. When Charles Lucien Bonaparte described

195-636: A domesticated varieties of common carp and Amur carp ( Cyprinus rubrofuscus ) that have been selectively bred for color. The common carp was introduced from China to Japan, where selective breeding in the 1820s in the Niigata region resulted in koi. In Japanese culture, koi are treated with affection, and seen as good luck. They are popular in other parts of the world as outdoor pond fish. A long tradition of common carp exists in Chinese culture and literature. A popular lyric circulating as early as 2,000 years ago in

234-488: A group, the meadowlarks have had a volatile taxonomic history. When Carl Linnaeus described the eastern meadowlark (the first of the meadowlarks to be scientifically described) in his epic 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758, he thought it was related to the Old World larks , and so put it in the genus Alauda with them. In the same work, he put the red-breasted meadowlark in the bunting genus Emberiza . Less than

273-519: A high feed conversion rate . Over 50% of the total aquaculture production of carp in China has now converted to Jian carp. Carp, along with many of their cyprinid relatives, are popular ornamental aquarium and pond fish. Ornamental goldfish were originally domesticated from their wild form, a dark greyish-brown carp native to Asia, but may have been influenced by Carassius carassius and Carassius gibelio . They were first bred for color in China over

312-520: A high degree of eloquence to the Japanese people, thus creating a level of respect and appreciation for the Koi. With Koi fish being at the forefront of a lot of Japanese art, it is common to find modern depictions of Koi in paintings, home art, murals, and even tattoos. To many people, Koi fish strongly represent Samurai warriors, as they are able to be seen swimming upwards against a rivers current, symbolizing

351-444: A restrictive diet, such as certain parasitoids and hunting wasps , are specialized to exploit particular species, not insects in general. Indeed, much as large mantids and spiders will do, the larger varieties of pitcher plants have been known to consume vertebrates such as small rodents and lizards. Charles Darwin wrote the first well-known treatise on carnivorous plants in 1875. Carp The term carp ( pl. : carp)

390-742: A small part of their nutrient intake and in others it might be an indispensable source of nutrients. As a rule, however, such animal food, however valuable it might be as a source of certain critically important minerals, is not the plants' major source of energy , which they generally derive mainly from photosynthesis. Insectivorous plants might consume insects and other animal material trapped adventitiously. However, most species to which such food represents an important part of their intake are specifically, often spectacularly, adapted to attract and secure adequate supplies. Their prey animals typically, but not exclusively, comprise insects and other arthropods . Plants highly adapted to reliance on animal food use

429-402: A thousand years ago. Due to selective breeding, goldfish have been developed into many distinct breeds, and are found in various colors, color patterns, forms and sizes far different from those of the original carp. Goldfish were kept as ornamental fish in China for thousands of years before being introduced to Japan in 1603, and to Europe in 1611. Nishikigoi , better known simply as koi, are

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468-537: A variety of mechanisms to secure their prey, such as pitfalls, sticky surfaces, hair-trigger snaps, bladder-traps, entangling furriness, and lobster-pot trap mechanisms. Also known as carnivorous plants , they appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen , such as acidic bogs and rock outcroppings. Insectivorous plants include the Venus flytrap , several types of pitcher plants , butterworts , sundews , bladderworts ,

507-465: Is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects . An alternative term is entomophage , which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects . The first vertebrate insectivores were amphibians . When they evolved 400 million years ago, the first amphibians were piscivores , with numerous sharp conical teeth, much like a modern crocodile . The same tooth arrangement is however also suited for eating animals with exoskeletons , thus

546-430: Is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae , a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia . While carp are prized quarries and are valued (even commercially cultivated ) as both food and ornamental fish in many parts of the Old World , they are considered trash fish and invasive pests in many parts of Africa , Australia and most of

585-476: Is a waterfall called the Dragon Gate . It is said that if certain carp called yulong can climb the cataract, they will transform into dragons. Every year in the third month of spring, they swim up from the sea and gather in vast numbers in the pool at the foot of the falls. It used to be said that only 71 could make the climb in any year. When the first succeeded, then the rains would begin to fall. This Dragon Gate

624-461: Is in contact with the extension of the labyrinth and the posterior with the swim bladder. The function is poorly understood, but this structure is presumed to take part in the transmission of vibrations from the swim bladder to the labyrinth and in the perception of sound, which would explain why the Ostariophysi have such a great capacity for hearing. Most cypriniformes have scales and teeth on

663-618: Is perhaps the largest insectivore. Insects also can be insectivores; examples are dragonflies , hornets , ladybugs , robber flies , and praying mantises . Insectivory also features to various degrees amongst primates , such as marmosets , tamarins , tarsiers , galagos and aye-aye . There is some suggestion that the earliest primates were nocturnal , arboreal insectivores. Insectivorous plants are plants that derive some of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoan . The benefit they derive from their catch varies considerably; in some species, it might include

702-664: Is said about them. Other famous Dragon Gates are on the Wei River where it passes through the Lung Sheu Mountains and at Tsin in Shanxi Province. The fish's jumping feature is set in such a proverbial idiom as " Liyu (Carp) jumps over the Dragon Gate ( Chinese : 鲤跃龙门 )," an idiom that conveys a vivid image symbolizing a sudden uplifting in one's social status, as when one ascends into the upper society or has found favor with

741-588: Is still a major form of aquaculture in Central and Eastern Europe , including the Russian Federation , where most of the production comes from low or intermediate-intensity ponds. In Asia , the farming of carp continues to surpass the total amount of farmed fish volume of intensively sea-farmed species, such as salmon and tuna . Selective breeding programs for the common carp include improvement in growth, shape, and resistance to disease. Experiments carried out in

780-449: Is the queen of rivers; a stately, a good, and a very subtle fish; that was not at first bred, nor hath been long in England , but is now naturalised." Carp are variable in terms of angling value. Various species of carp have been domesticated and reared as food fish across Europe and Asia for thousands of years. These various species appear to have been domesticated independently, as

819-634: Is usually colored in gold or pink, shimmering with an unmistakably auspicious tone. The modern Japanese Koi fish are a brightly colored species of the Amur carp that have been bred by rice farmers in Japan since the early 19th century. This subspecies of carp plays a significant role in Japanese art, often being depicted as symbols of luck, strength, and tenacity. For this reason, Koi fish are also presented as gifts in Japanese culture as symbols of love, gratitude, and peace. Their bright colors and unique patterns present

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858-554: The USSR used crossings of broodstocks to increase genetic diversity, and then selected the species for traits such as growth rate, exterior traits and viability, and/or adaptation to environmental conditions such as variations in temperature. Selected carp for fast growth and tolerance to cold, the Ropsha carp. The results showed a 30 to 77.4% improvement of cold tolerance, but did not provide any data for growth rate. An increase in growth rate

897-612: The United States . The cypriniformes (family Cyprinidae) are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes , Siluriformes , and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi , since these groups share some common features. These features include being found predominantly in fresh water and possessing Weberian ossicles , an anatomical structure derived from the first five anterior-most vertebrae, and their corresponding ribs and neural crests. The third anterior-most pair of ribs

936-660: The black , grass , silver and bighead carp . In the 1950s, the Pearl River Fishery Research Institute in China made a technological breakthrough in the induced breeding of these carps, which has resulted in a rapid expansion of freshwater aquaculture in China. In the late 1990s, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences developed a new variant of the common carp called the Jian carp ( Cyprinus carpio var. Jian ). This fish grows rapidly and has

975-594: The waterwheel plant , brocchinia and many members of the Bromeliaceae . The list is far from complete, and some plants, such as Roridula species, exploit the prey organisms mainly in a mutualistic relationship with other creatures, such as resident organisms that contribute to the digestion of prey. In particular, animal prey organisms supply carnivorous plants with nitrogen, but they also are important sources of various other soluble minerals, such as potassium and trace elements that are in short supply in environments where

1014-595: The United States, and, worldwide, large sums of money are spent on carp control. At least some species of carp are able to survive for months with practically no oxygen (for example under ice or in stagnant, scummy water) by metabolizing glycogen to form lactic acid which is then converted into ethanol and carbon dioxide . The ethanol diffuses into the surrounding water through the gills . In 1653 Izaak Walton wrote in The Compleat Angler , "The Carp

1053-453: The ability to eat insects is an extension of piscivory. At one time, insectivorous mammals were scientifically classified in an order called Insectivora . This order is now abandoned, as not all insectivorous mammals are closely related. Most of the Insectivora taxa have been reclassified; those that have not yet been reclassified and found to be truly related to each other remain in

1092-418: The carp family. In colloquial use, carp usually refers only to several larger cyprinid species such as Cyprinus carpio (common carp), Carassius carassius (crucian carp), Ctenopharyngodon idella (grass carp), Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (silver carp), and Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (bighead carp). Common carp are native to both Eastern Europe and Western Asia , so they are sometimes called

1131-454: The genus Sturnella . The red-breasted and white-browed meadowlarks were moved to the genus Leistes , while the pampas meadowlark, Peruvian meadowlark and long-tailed meadowlark made up the genus Pezites , which was established by Cabanis in 1851. By the late 20th century, all meadowlarks were lumped again in the genus Sturnella. In 2017, all the red-breasted species were moved to the genus Leistes . Insectivore An insectivore

1170-410: The inferior pharyngeal bones which may be modified in relation to the diet. Tribolodon is the only cyprinid genus which tolerates salt water. Several species move into brackish water but return to fresh water to spawn. All of the other cypriniformes live in continental waters and have a wide geographical range. Some consider all cyprinid fishes carp , and the family Cyprinidae itself is often known as

1209-506: The late Han period includes an anecdote which relates how a man far away from home sent back to his wife a pair of carp ( Chinese : 鲤鱼 ; pinyin : Liyu ), in which, when the wife opened the fish to cook, she found a silk strip that carried a love note of just two lines: "Eat well to keep fit, missing you and forget me not". At the Yellow River at Henan ( Chinese : 河南 ; pinyin : Hénán ; Wade–Giles : Ho-nan )

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1248-543: The order Eulipotyphla . Although individually small, insects exist in enormous numbers. Insects make up a very large part of the animal biomass in almost all non-marine, non-polar environments. It has been estimated that the global insect biomass is in the region of 10  kg (one billion tons) with an estimated population of 10 (one billion billion, or quintillion ) organisms. Many creatures depend on insects as their primary diet, and many that do not (and are thus not technically insectivores) nevertheless use insects as

1287-499: The plants flourish. This gives them a decisive advantage over other plants, whereas in nutrient-rich soils they tend to be out-competed by plants adapted to aggressive growth where nutrient supplies are not the major constraints. Technically these plants are not strictly insectivorous, as they consume any animal that they can secure and consume; the distinction is trivial, however, because not many primarily insectivorous organisms exclusively consume insects. Most of those that do have such

1326-413: The royal or a noble family, perhaps through marriage, but in particular through success in the imperial examination . It is therefore an idiom often used to encourage students or children to achieve success through hard work and perseverance. This symbolic image, as well as the image of the carp itself, has been one of the most popular themes in Chinese paintings, especially those of popular styles. The fish

1365-782: The various domesticated carp species are native to different parts of Eurasia . Aquaculture has been pursued in China for at least 2,400 years. A tract by Fan Li in the fifth century BC details many of the ways carp were raised in ponds . The common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ) is originally from Central Europe . Several carp species (collectively known as Asian carp ) were domesticated in East Asia . Carp that are originally from South Asia , for example catla ( Gibelion catla ), rohu ( Labeo rohita ) and mrigal ( Cirrhinus cirrhosus ), are known as Indian carp . Their hardiness and adaptability have allowed domesticated species to be propagated all around

1404-403: The white-browed meadowlark and pampas meadowlark, however, he assigned them to another newly created genus — Trupialis , for what he called "ground-starlings"; he moved the red-breasted meadowlark into that now-defunct genus as well. By the early 20th century, the meadowlarks were split again. Only the "yellow-breasted" meadowlarks (eastern and western meadowlarks, including Lilian's) remained in

1443-457: The world. Although the carp was an important aquatic food item, as more fish species have become readily available for the table, the importance of carp culture in Western Europe has diminished. Demand has declined, partly due to the appearance of more desirable table fish such as trout and salmon through intensive farming , and environmental constraints. However, fish production in ponds

1482-464: Was observed in the second generation in Vietnam , Moav and Wohlfarth (1976) showed positive results when selecting for slower growth for three generations compared to selecting for faster growth. Schaperclaus (1962) showed resistance to the dropsy disease wherein selected lines suffered low mortality (11.5%) compared to unselected (57%). The major carp species used traditionally in Chinese aquaculture are

1521-460: Was said to have been created after the flood by the god-emperor Yu, who split a mountain blocking the path of the Yellow River. It was so famous that throughout China was a common saying, "a student facing his examinations is like a carp attempting to leap the Dragon Gate." Henan is not the only place where this happens. Many other waterfalls in China also have the name Dragon Gate and much the same

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